


Caught Red-Handed

by Anonymous



Series: Ninjago Things [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: All the Ninja are idiots, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Cole should probably be more careful, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Everyone Is Gay, Human Cryptor (Ninjago), Human Zane (Ninjago), Is this too many tags? I think it is, I’m always mean to the main character, Jay is manipulative, Kai is a criminal but he’s not evil this time I swear, Kai is impulsive, Kai is stressed, Kai just want to protect his sister, Kai needs help, Kai would die for Nya fight me, Kai-centric, Lloyd is So Done, Lloyd is angry and he has every right to be, M/M, Multi, Nya is oblivious, Redemption, Secrets, Slow Burn, Zane is the only functioning adult, Zane takes no shit, cole is Soft, no beta we die like zane, polyninja - Freeform, poor kai, secret agent AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 51,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23449558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Kai didn’t mean for this to happen. He just wanted to protect Nya. How did he manage to get caught up in this?He didn’t want to become a criminal, and he certainly did NOT want to wind up with the CIA coming after him.With all the red on his hands, it’s only a matter of time before he gets caught.But he’s not going to make it easy. If he’s going down, he’ll take those agents down with him.
Relationships: Cole/Jay Walker, Cole/Jay Walker/Zane, Cole/Kai (Ninjago), Cole/Kai/Jay Walker/Zane, Cole/Zane (Ninjago), Jay Walker/Zane, Kai/Jay Walker, Kai/Zane (Ninjago), polyninja
Series: Ninjago Things [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686901
Comments: 312
Kudos: 325
Collections: Anon Works, Anonymous





	1. Starting From The Bottom

So Kai’s done some things he shouldn’t have. But he didn’t have a choice. When his parents left, he was the one tasked with taking care of Nya. He was only sixteen when it happened. Sure, he knew a little about metal-working, but that didn’t help him find a job. He refused to let his little sister starve.

Maybe joining an underground crime ring wasn’t the best idea. But it was the only choice he had. He didn’t mean to get so caught up in it. And now, he’s in deep. Too deep. If he tried to walk away, both him and Nya would be killed. So here he is, age twenty-three, working in an organized crime business. 

He’d say he’s just a thug, but apparently his talent hadn’t gone unnoticed. He quickly moved up the ranks, and now? Now, he’s guarding the human traffickers while they bring in their ‘merchandise’. His knuckles are white from the way he clenches his gun. This isn’t right. It’s not fair. They’re bringing in human beings and treating them like livestock, and what does Kai do?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Scratch that, he’s not doing nothing. He’s helping them get away with it. He’s standing there, gun in hand, making sure that no one tries to stop them from using innocent people as though they’re slaves.

He makes the mistake of glancing back. For a moment, just a moment, his eyes meet with one of the victims. The sea-green irises and short black hair can’t help but make him think of his sister.

He quickly looks away.

He focuses on the dark streets, keeping an eye out for anything that could threaten the business. Breathe in, breath out. Think about Nya. He’s doing this for her. God knows what would happen to her if Kai tried to back out of this. He refuses to let her get hurt.

Which is why she doesn’t know about his job. As far as she’s aware, he works late-night shifts doing manual labor, moving boxes and stocking shelves. And he intends to keep it that way. She won’t get caught up in this. He’ll keep her safe.

Someone different gets off the boat, but he doesn’t pay them any notice. He just keeps his eyes on the dark streets. Like it or not, he’s got a job to do. Even if this isn’t ideal, he doesn’t have a choice. Nya won’t die. He works so that she won’t have to. She’s enrolling in college, and with all of the studying and work she’s put in, she’s managed to get a full-ride.

Good. She won’t end up like him. She has a chance at a normal life. While he falls further down the rabbit hole, she’ll be able to get a stable, legal job, and live happily ever after. It’s what she deserves.

The man from the boat walks up to him. Acting on instinct, the young adult sizes him up. Middle-aged, purple hair, formal clothes. Not a threat physically, but most likely very powerful in the underground community.

“Kai Smith, correct?” The man asks.

Kai nods, forcing himself to remain strong and steady. Showing weakness will only get him killed. “Yes sir.” He forces himself not to make a comment about the hair. Why bright purple? Isn’t that a little conspicuous?

“It’s nice to meet you in person. I’ve heard tales of your exploits, you know.”

Kai winces internally. He’s  **_definitely_ ** done some things he shouldn’t have, and that includes all the targets he’s killed. No one has ever identified him as the killer, so he just goes about his day-to-day life, a monster. He’s gone head-to-head in what seemed to be suicidal fights and come out relatively unscathed. The others have started to treat him with more respect, so it’s no surprise that someone of a higher rank has heard of him. In fact, he’s surprised it hadn’t happened sooner. He’s become a bit of a legend with the local criminals, the ones in the gang included.

“Is there something I can do for you, sir?” Kai asks after a pause.

“Yes. You see, I’ve had you transfered to my segment, you work for me now. I’ve heard great things about you. Don’t let me down.” And with that, the man walks away, leaving the young adult bewildered. What just went down there? He works for that guy now? Does he have any proof? Why did no one tell him he was being transferred? And what is that guy’s ‘segment’, anyways?

Kai spends the rest of the night pondering these questions. But at the end of his shift, one of his superiors walks up to him. “You’ve been transferred to Pythor’s division.” She informs him. “You’ll be meeting him here at eleven PM tomorrow night, although I see he’s already talked to you once. I’d watch my back if I were you.” 

She walks away, leaving the brunet with more questions than answers. But it’s not his place to ask. And so, with much confusion, he leaves his gun on the rack and walks back to his apartment.

By the time he gets there, Nya has long since fallen asleep. Because of their differing schedules, they don’t get to talk much anymore.

He trudges inside, making sure he locks the door behind him. His mind still whirling with unanswered questions, he goes through his bedtime routine. As he turns off the lights and crawls under the sheets, he can't help but wonder what’s going to come next.


	2. New Neighbor

When he wakes up, Nya has already gone out for the day. He gets up, gets dressed, eats breakfast. By the time he’s ready for the day, it’s nearly one in the afternoon. But since he was up until three AM, he figures that it’s a decent enough time to be up.

He glances at the clock again. He’s got time to hit the gym, right? It’s not like he has anything else to do. 

So he puts on his shoes and heads out the door. As he’s heading out, he notices a ginger around his age carrying a heavy box. Kai hesitates a moment, but before he can stop himself, he asks, “You need some help with that?”

The ginger turns to look at him. “Thanks, but-” He cuts himself off with a stumble, dropping the box. He falls forward, and it topples over. Kai half-jogs up to him, crouching down.

“Are you hurt?” He looks the boy over for injuries, but he seems to be unharmed.

The ginger gives a small laugh. “My pride took a beating, but I’m not physically injured.” He gets to his feet, and Kai stands with him. “I’m Jay, your new neighbor. I guess this isn’t too great a first impression…”

“I’ve done dumber things, trust me.” Kai gives a smile. He looks Jay over. He’s lean, but looks strong. The kind of guy most fighters would underestimate. But even with his slim frame, there’s something about him that sends warning bells dinging in his head.

… or maybe that’s just because he’s cute.

“Ha, this is far from the worst thing I’ve done.” Jay admits with a laugh. He picks the box back up. “This isn’t even the heaviest one.” He mutters to himself.

“My offer still stands: I’m more than willing to help.” He’s not busy or anything, and it seems rude to not offer any assistance. Sure, he was going to the gym, but he can do that later. 

“Are you sure? I can do it myself.” 

Kai nods with a smile. “Yeah, it’s no problem. I work out; the weight won’t bother me.”

Jay smiles back. “That’s really nice of you! My car’s got all the boxes, I’ll show you it after I put this away.”

He walks up to the door next to Kai’s, trying to get his key in while he holds the box. The brunet stifles a laugh. After a few moments of this, he walks over and takes the box from him. “Here, that’ll make it easier.”

Jay flashes him a sheepish smile as he unlocks the door. “Heh, yeah. That’ll do it.” He agrees.

After he opens it, he takes the box back and brings it over to the counter, where he sets it down. “You sure you want to help?” He asks.

“Wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.” Kai points out. 

It takes them a good few hours to bring in all the boxes. They pass the time with idle chatter, and Kai finds that the ginger is a pretty cool guy to talk with. As they’re finishing, Jay turns to him. “You know, I don’t think I caught your name.”

Kai internally facepalms. Well duh, he has to tell the guy his name! How could he forget to introduce himself?

“It’s Kai Smith.” He smiles. “It was nice meeting you, Jay.”

The ginger stiffens at Kai’s name. He glances him over, visible surprise on his face. “Heh, uh, yeah. It was- it was nice to meet you too.” He gives a clearly nervous smile.

The brunet frowns. Hmm. From the way he reacted, you’d think he’d have heard of Kai. But he’s not exactly famous, so-

Well. He’s kinda famous underground. But unless Jay works there, he’s not going to know who he is. 

Kai forces a smile, giving a wave as he goes back inside his apartment. From his first analysis of the ginger, he’s clearly more powerful than he looks. He could very well be a co-worker.

But he can’t just ask,  _ ‘Hey, are you a criminal too?’ _ . Kai may be impulsive, but he’s not stupid. He needs to play this smart. He can’t afford to have Nya finding out about what he’s done.

He takes off his shoes, setting them on the rack. He goes into his room, flopping down onto the bed. There’s got to be a way to hint at it so that he'd only understand if he actually is a criminal.

But how? What should he say to do that?

Communications have never been his strong suit. He leaves things like that to his superiors. All he does is hit things and look intimidating. Well, and kill people.

He winces internally. He never meant for any of them to die. He wasn’t thinking, acting on instinct. In that moment, all he knew was that they saw what was going on, and they couldn’t be allowed to tell anyone else.

And then he shot them, killed them in cold blood. Because he’s a  **_monster_ ** , a murderer. If Nya knew what he’s done, would she still love him?

Of course not. She’d be smart enough to know to get the hell away from him.

He sighs, dragging a hand down his face. Why does everything have to be so complicated?

He hears a voice from the apartment next door, and it quickly clicks that it must belong to Jay. There was no one in the apartment, so he’s probably on a phone call. 

Kai hesitates a moment. If he listens in, he might be able to determine if Jay is a criminal. But on the other hand, it’s a huge invasion of privacy. 

Screw it. He gets off of the bed, walking over to the wall and pressing his ear against it.

“-know, right? Looks like we’ve got some good luck for once.” 

There’s a pause, Jay most likely listening to the reply.

“When am I not? Don’t answer that. And hey, worst case scenario, I die. That’s not too bad, right? You won’t be stuck with me and my annoying jokes.”

There’s another pause.

“Yeah, yeah, not funny. It won’t come to that. Don’t worry about me, worry about your paperwork. Pythor isn’t exactly an easy guy to deal with.”

Oh? Does Jay and this mysterious other work for Pythor too? They must. Looks like he’s got his answer. Jay’s a criminal, like him. Maybe he’ll see him at work tomorrow- or more accurately, tonight.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ll stay on my A-game. We’ll be done before you know it.”

Well, that’s the end of that, then. But should he mention to Jay that he knows? Probably, if only to make sure that he doesn’t tell Nya.

“Lloyd, if you tell me to be careful one more time, I swear to god-“

Kai pulls away from the wall. He’s already got the information he needs, so there’s no use in listening in further. 

He grabs his phone before walking into the living room, sitting down on the couch. He opens a game and starts to play, distracting himself from his previous thoughts. He shouldn’t worry about that right now.

He kills a few hours on his phone. By the time he looks up, it’s almost seven. Woah. The day’s really been going by fast.

Kai grabs his shoes and heads out. He can hit the gym for a few hours and take a shower without being late for work.

Work. Where he’ll be seeing Pythor.

He’s got a bad feeling about this.


	3. Teamwork? Never Met Her.

He reaches the docks at 10:47. Being early is a good thing, right? Cautiously, he makes his way to the warehouse. Better safe than sorry. Well, if Pythor is planning on hurting him, there’s not a lot he can do but die. He’d be horribly outnumbered and outgunned.

He shakes the thoughts from his head, pushing open the door. As soon as he does, he comes face to face with a coworker. Kai’s probably heard their name before, but he’s forgotten it. He tries not to think about his job too much.

The guard nods at him and steps aside. The brunet blinks as he looks around the warehouse. There’s a good dozen guards there, examining every nook and cranny for possible threats. There’s a table in the middle, one chair on the far end, and four on the near.

The man with purple hair- Pythor, most likely- sits at the far end. Kai walks over to him, standing tall and proud. He makes sure to look as intimidating as possible, not as a threat, but to show his strength.

“I was told to meet you here, sir.” Kai greets.

“Yes, yes you were. Please, sit down.” Pythor smiles, but it doesn’t express happiness in the slightest. The grin looks almost evil, and it sends a shiver down his spine. There’s an aura of power around him, something that warns of what he’s capable of.

Kai sits down.

“I’ve heard of your talents, Kai. You’re more than proficient in combat. I believe you will be an  **_excellent_ ** component on my team.”

Wait. Team? He’s working on a team? Why? With who?

Just then, the door to the warehouse opens. A man with raven black hair and a dark green outfit walks up to them. He seems completely at ease, ignoring the visible threat that is Pythor. He sits down in the other middle seat, the one next to Kai.

“Pythor, it’s good to see you again!” The man greets.

Kai glances at him warily. Right, so he’s got issues. Hopefully the crime lord won’t punish Kai for this idiot’s actions.

But to his surprise, Pythor just smiles. “Morro, it’s always a pleasure. I suppose you got my message then, hmm?”

Kai’s eyes widen. Morro?  **_The_ ** Morro? The legendary mastermind? 

Morro nods. “You want me to play as Lloyd’s counterpart. Count me in. I’ve been wanting to take him down since day one.” He looks over at Kai. “Who’s he?”

“His name is Kai, and he’ll be the anti-Cole.” Pythor explains.

The brunet blinks. He’s got absolutely no idea what’s going on here, and he hates it. He **_hates_** not knowing things. Who’s Lloyd? What’s Morro talking about? Who’s Cole? What’s this about counterparts?

Morro nods. “Cryptor will take on Zane, then, and who’ll oppose Jay?”

Cryptor?! The infamous hacker?!  **_These_ ** are the people he’s working with?!

He wrenches his thoughts away from it. Think of something else, he needs to think about something else, he’ll only whip himself up into a frenzy if he thinks about this.

Pythor said Jay. Same name as his neighbor. A weird coincidence, but since Jay works for the crime lord, they’ve got to be referring to someone else.

“I couldn’t quite find a good match for him, I’m afraid. So we’ll have to make due with Ronin.”

Yep, no idea what’s going on.

He decides to take a risk. “Sir, why am I on this team? If you’re using people like Cryptor and Morro, you can clearly find someone better than myself.”

Pythor gives a sympathetic frown that is all too clearly fake.“Oh, dear. I don’t think you know who you killed, do you?”

Kai blinks. He never went into the identities of his victims. He does his best not to think about the red on his hands.

“No sir.” He answers.

Morro chuckles. “You really don’t know? You killed one of the most powerful agents to ever exist, getting away scot-free, and you don’t even know who it was.”

A bead of sweat starts to run down the side of his face. “I- I never looked into it.” He answers meekly. 

“Kai. You killed Agent Garmadon.” Morro tells him.

His eyes widen. He- he killed  **_who_ ** ?! The famous double agent who switched from good to evil to good, the man renowned as both an amazing hero and a devastating villain. And Kai of all people had managed to take him down.

“It was quite impressive. He’s quite the skilled combatant, and from what I’ve heard, you took him down without batting an eye.” Pythor comments.

The brunet thinks back to that night. He tried so hard to blot it out from his mind, shoved the memories into the deep recesses of his brain.

But somehow, he had killed one of the most famous agents to ever live.

He tries not to think about it, but he does remember one opponent who was difficult to defeat. Kai had pulled out every trick, used everything he could to get the upper hand.

He killed Agent Garmadon.

Holy shit.

The door to the warehouse opens. A stranger with dark skin and an eyepatch walks in, scanning the room briefly before making his way over to the table. He sits down next to Morro, in the seat furthest from Kai.

“Pythor.” The man greets. He looks over at the two sitting next to him. “You know I don’t do teams.”

“And we both know that you’ll make an exception.” Pythor smiles. “This is your best way to get back at Zane, if you don’t recall.”

Hmm. Since he had previously said that Cryptor would be the one going up against Zane, that means eyepatch here must be the hacker.

Cryptor studies Kai with a dark gaze. “And who’s he?”

“Kai. You’ve heard of him, I’m sure.” 

Cryptor doesn’t acknowledge him, his gaze still focused on the brunet. Kai maintains eye contact with him, fighting the urge to scream and run away.

After a moment, the hacker nods, turning back to Pythor. “He’ll do.”

“You say that like you’re the one in charge.” Morro snorts. “If you haven’t noticed,  **_I’m_ ** the mastermind here.”

“I follow orders if I can trust the person giving them.” Cryptor replies. “So far, I have no reason to give you that trust.”

Morro scoffs. “We’re both on the same side, dipshit. We need to work together, especially if we’re going up against the Ninja.”

Kai’s eyes widen. The Ninja? They’re going to try to take down the famous team that has defeated every crime lord and gang leader in its path? While unknown to the general public, anyone who’s anyone in the underground has heard stories about the Ninja, and if what Kai’s heard is true, then this mission is suicidal. 

“And hey, Rookie?” Morro prompts, turning to the brunet.

“Y-yes?” Kai immediately regrets opening his mouth. He needs to be strong, intimidating. Showing weakness will get him killed.

“You better pull your own weight.”

Before Kai has time to start formulating a response, the doors open again, and a different man with an eyepatch walks in.

Seriously, what’s with the eyepatches?

The man walks over and sits on the only remaining seat, the one next to Kai. He glances at Morro with distaste. “Working with  **_him_ ** , huh?”

The mastermind glares back. “Trust me, I’m not fond of teaming up with you either. But in the end, we’ve all got a job to do here. And yours includes listening to me.”

The stranger scoffs. “Yeah, sure.” He agrees, but his tone conveys that he doesn’t really mean it.

“Ronin, you already knew that Morro would be here. You’re not making excuses to back out now, are you?” Pythor stares him down coldly.

“Of course not.” Ronin crosses his arms. “I know what I’m getting into. But who’s Mr. hair spikes?”

Kai decides to be the one to answer it this time. It’s a risk, but he’s starting to get tired of people introducing him. “My name is Kai Smith, sir.”

Ronin smiles. “Sir? Oh, I like him.”

“Kai, these are your teammates. The only one of them you defer to is Morro, understood?” Pythor prompts.

The brunet nods. “Yes sir.” 

“Hard to believe the one who killed Agent Garmadon is so polite.” Robin muses.

Kai bites back a retort. He’s doing this for Nya. He can deal with thinly veiled insults. And hey, fighting the Ninja may mean getting murdered, but she’ll be safe, and that’s what matters. 

“The three of you will follow Morro’s orders, unless they directly conflict with mine. Now, I’m sure you all have things to do. Morro, you have the address of your base.” Pythor nods, standing up. “I will see you all in the future.”

And with that, the crime lord leaves.

Morro gets to his feet. “You all have burner phones, and I’ve got your numbers. I’ll message you when I’ve got enough of a plan to go over.” The mastermind doesn’t wait for a response, walking out the door they came in through.

Cryptor looks over at Ronin. “I’ve heard good things about your skills. Don’t let us down.” He gets up from his seat and walks away.

Kai and Robin stand up at the same time. The criminals bothe eye each other, and the brunet sizes him up as an opponent.

Pretty powerful compared to a civilian, but nothing Kai couldn’t handle with ease.

He nods at the eyepatched man and starts the trek back to his apartment.

His life is a mess, and there’s not anyone he can talk to about it, no one he can vent to. Nya’s in the dark, and he doesn’t exactly have any friends. So it’s just him and-

Hmm. Jay’s a criminal like him, and they get along pretty well. Maybe he could talk to him about it.

Because seriously, his life is so crazy that he needs to tell  **_someone_ ** about it.


	4. Friends?

He makes it back to his apartment. Nya’s likely either asleep or studying, and she likely won’t expect him to be home so early, considering how late he’s usually out.

After a moment of deliberation, he knocks on Jay’s door.

It opens surprisingly quickly, especially considering the time.

“Kai? Is something wrong?”

“Could I come in? I wanted to talk to you about something.” The brunet admits, glancing to the side. “If you’re busy, I can-“

“No!” The ginger shakes his head quickly. “No, it’s cool. Yeah, make yourself at home.” He opens the door wider and steps to the side, letting Kai inside.

He walks in, and Jay closes the door behind him.

“I’d offer you tea, but I still haven’t unpacked it yet.” The ginger admits. “But you said you wanted to chat. Is something wrong?” He repeats his earlier question, walking over to a couch. He gestures for Kai to sit beside him, and the brunet does so without thinking about it.

“I know who you work for.”

“Wh- what?” Jay’s voice rises, getting somewhat squeaky in pitch. A flash of fear covers his face, but Kai is quick to reassure him.

“I’m not gonna turn you in. I work for Pythor too.” He explains. “And I can’t exactly talk to my sister about work, but since you have the same job, I figured it would be okay?” It turns into a question at the end, and the brunet internally curses himself. He should’ve just gone to bed.

The fear is gone from Jay’s face, replaced by momentary confusion, and then excitement. “I- yes! Yes, you can totally talk to me about it! I- I don’t mind.” He smiles.

Kai breathes a small sigh of relief. “So I just started working under Pythor tonight, and he’s a pretty big deal, you know? Of course you know, you’ve met him. You know what kind of aura he gives off.”

Jay nods. “He’s very intimidating.” He agrees.

“Exactly. And he said he wanted me to join a team, and I was so confused, you know? I had no idea what was going on. And then guess who walked in? Morro.”

Jay chokes on air. “Sorry?”

“Yeah, you heard me. Morro, **_the_** Morro. And while I’m internally freaking out, the two of them start talking about this team thing, and- well. You’ve heard of me, right? I saw it in your face when we met.”

Jay nods. “Yeah, you’re pretty infamous.”

“But apparently one of the guys I killed was Agent Garmadon. Did you know that? I didn’t. Everything was so hazy, I honestly can’t remember half of it.” He purposefully avoids mentioning how he tried to forget on purpose.

The ginger’s eyes fly wide. “That- that was  **_you_ ** ? I knew you took down some pretty good agents, but you took down  **_him_ ** ?” He seems half in awe and half in fear, and honestly, Kai can’t blame him.

“Yeah, apparently. And they explain that to me, but immediately after,  **_Cryptor_ ** walks in. And they just keep talking, and I finally get up the nerve to ask what’s going on.” Kai continues.

Jay keeps staring. “And- and what’s that?”

“We’re supposed to take down the Ninja, the motherfucking  **_Ninja_ ** . It’s them, me, and this Ronin guy, and somehow Pythor thinks we can take them down. It’s crazy!” Kai gives a small laugh. “They’re the  **_Ninja_ ** . I mean, we have the element of surprise, sure, but if what I’ve heard about them is true, this’ll be a suicide mission.”

Jay looks shocked, almost downright horrified. “The- the Ninja? Cryptor, Morro, you and Ronin, you’re teaming up to take them down?”

“I know it sounds crazy, and I can barely believe it myself. That’s why I had to tell someone, and I figured you’d be a good choice. If you work for Pythor, I’m surprised you didn’t already know.”

Jay hesitates a beat, but then admits, “He doesn’t exactly tell us a lot about what’s going down.” 

“Oh. I probably shouldn’t have told you, then.” Kai scratches the back of his neck, looking away. “Uh, don’t tell anyone I told you, okay?”

“Of- of course! My lips are sealed.” Jay promises. “I’m pretty low ranking in his division, so he usually doesn’t tell me much. But I can keep secrets, I’m good at that!”

Kai smiles. He may not have known Jay for very long, but he already considers the ginger a good friend. “I’m pretty nervous about working with such skilled guys, you know? They already kinda threatened me, but I think we’ll be able to get along. I mean, if we’re gonna take down the Ninja, we’re gonna have to.”

“You’ll have to keep me updated on that.” Jay prompts. “I mean, taking down the Ninja? I know I can’t do much to help, but I’d love to hear about it.”

“I- I dunno, I probably shouldn’t be sharing it with you…” Kai admits. “If you haven’t heard, there’s probably a good reason for that.”

A small pout crosses the ginger’s face. “Aw…” His blue eyes are pleading with the brunet, and Kai feels his heart skip a beat as he looks at his neighbor. The soft splatter of freckles, the deep blue eyes, and the soft pout are too much for him.

“I- I won’t be able to share everything.” He caves. “But I’ll try to tell you what I can.”

Jay immediately brightens. “Yes!” He fist pumps, arm dragging in towards his torso. 

Kai can’t help the small laugh that escapes him. This guy is going to be the death of him. But if he’s going to go out, what a way to do it.

The ginger grins at him cheerfully, and Kai can’t help but smile back. The happiness Jay generates is contagious. 

The ginger’s phone rings, jolting Kai from his thoughts. Jay looks at it and softly curses. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.” 

Kai nods. “Go ahead.”

His neighbor gets up and walks over into the next room as he answers the call. Unfortunately, Kai can still hear him.

To listen or not to listen, that is the question.

Screw it, he’s too nosy to  **_not_ ** eavesdrop.

“Zee, now is a really bad time.” The ginger groans. “I was kinda in the middle of something.”

There’s a short pause,  _ ‘Zee’ _ most likely responding.

“Yeah, an important something. I’ll call you back, okay? You literally could not have picked a worse time.”

Oh? If he’s so upset about it, he’s got to be thinking of it as more than a friendly conversation. Maybe he… maybe he likes Kai back?

No, that’s stupid. He knows about what Kai’s done, why would he like him?

But Jay isn’t a civilian. He’s a criminal, like him. Surely he understands what it’s like, understands the pressure and the way someone can just  **_snap_ ** .

“Of course not! I would tell you if I got kidnapped! I’m talking to Kai, okay? I’ll call you back, I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

There’s another pause, shorter this time.

“Yeah, love you too. Bye!” There’s a short silence, and then a groan of annoyance.

Wait. Love? Is Jay in a relationship?

God damn it.

After another few moments, Jay walks back into the room. “Sorry about that.” He sits down next to Kai in the seat he was in previously. 

“No problem.” The brunet smiles, fighting the pang in his chest. He just met the guy, how did he fall so quick? It’s not fair.

“So, Agent Garmadon. I’ve heard that one of the Ninja is his son, too.” Jay tells him. “So that might also be a reason you’re on the team.”

“Wha- what? His son is one of the Ninja?!” Kai stares at the ginger in horror.

“You didn’t know?”

“I had no idea! I- I’ve never looked into that. I try-“ He hesitates a moment, before admitting, “I try not to think about the people I’ve killed.”

“Why?” Jay questions. He seems genuinely confused by this, like he can’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to think about what a monster they are.

“You’ve never killed anyone, have you.” It’s not a question. Despite them only just meeting, Kai knows the ginger well enough to know that he’s not a sadist.

He doesn’t wait for Jay to reply. “Because… they had lives. They had families. And- and I just took that from them. A gunshot, a well-aimed punch, and then they’re gone. Dead. And it’s my fault. I- I don’t want to think about the damage I’ve caused. I know it’s selfish, but…” He trails off, looking down.

“Oh. I- you didn’t strike me as the type of person who would care about that.” His neighbor admits. And just like that, Kai feels himself go numb.

He’s a monster, so much so that someone can tell just by meeting him. 

“I should get going.” The brunet stands up. “It was nice talking to you.”

“Kai, wait. I didn’t mean-“

“But you did.” The murderer cuts him off. “It’s fine, really. I guess I just thought… well. I don’t know what I thought.”  **_Liar_ ** . He thought that Jay would understand, thought that he would care, thought that he might be the one to make him feel human again.

It stings, but he deserves it. He deserves every bad thing that comes his way.

He starts to walk away, but Jay stands up, grabbing him by the arm. “Kai, please. I- I know we just met, and I couldn’t help but think of the rumors I’ve heard, but-“ The ginger makes a pained noise. “But could we- could we try again? I know we don’t know each other too well, but I’d like to be your friend. I speak without thinking sometimes, and I’m sorry for that, but I don’t want us to be enemies.”

And just like that, any resentment against him is gone. Kai softens, mentally smacking himself as he turns back to face his neighbor. “Yeah. I’d like us to be friends, too.”

Jay’s face splits into a grin, and he lets go of Kai’s sleeve. “I don’t have many friends.” He admits. “But I’ll be glad to count you as one of them.”

The brunet smiles back. “Ditto. But, uh… I probably should get going.” He admits. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Jay nods. “See you then!”

And so with that, Kai leaves Jay’s apartment and sneaks back into his own, careful to be quiet enough that he won’t wake his sister. He goes back into his room, sitting down on the bed.

“- a horrible idea, Zee. Look, you do your job, and I’ll do mine. Tell the others to meet me at the rendezvous at seven tomorrow, it’s important.”

Kai hesitates. The walls are very thin, and he should probably tell Jay that. But he’s kind of enjoying listening to the ginger’s voice.

He mentally smacks himself. What is he, a stalker? What the hell is wrong with him?!

“I’m taking care of myself fine, thank you very much. I don’t need you to mom me, okay? I’m an adult, I pay bills and stuff.”

There’s a brief pause.

“You got me there. But I don’t want you guys visiting me, it might scare him off. I’m gonna play it safe this time around.”

Play it safe? Play what safe? Scare who off?

… maybe he wasn’t too far off when he thought that Jay might like him back. There’s no other explanation for the things he’s saying.

A grin crosses his face. Jay feels the same! He didn’t think it was possible, but somehow, the ginger fell for him, too.

“Snowflake, trust me on this one. You guys would only make it worse. I’ve got this handled. I’ll tell you more tomorrow, okay? I need to get some rest.”

There’s a brief pause.

“Yeah. Love you too, ya dork. I’ll see you later.”

Well, if he loves Kai, then maybe he’s not in a relationship. Platonic  _ ‘I love you‘ _ ’s are a thing, so maybe him and Zee are just really good friends. That would explain it.

With a smile on his face, Kai lays down and opens up a game on his phone. He’ll go to sleep once his heart’s stopped racing.


	5. It's A Work Thing

He wakes up to his burner ringing, and without thinking too much about it, he answers. “Hey, this is-“

“Chen’s Noodle House on 8th, be there in twenty.” Morro tells him. The line goes dead immediately after, giving no time for a response.

He checks the time. It’s not even 7:30! If Morro was up as late as he was, how does he function on so little sleep?

Sighing, he gets ready for the day. He spots Nya in the kitchen, making what looks like pancakes. 

“You’re up early.” She notes. “Everything’s okay, right?”

Kai quickly nods. “Yeah, I just got assigned to a new project. It’s got more irregular hours.” He’s not quite lying, but it’s not the whole truth, either.

“Do you want pancakes? I can make more.”

The brunet shakes his head. “No, I’m already running behind.” He puts on his shoes, double checking that he has all of his things.

“I’ll see you later, then. Have fun at work!”

Kai forces a smile. “I’ll try.” But something tells him that this new assignment isn’t going to be all that enjoyable.

By the time he makes it to Chen’s, twenty-two minutes have passed. He steps inside and looks around. They’ve probably already gotten a table by now.

He hesitates as he looks around. They don’t seem to be anywhere in sight.

A server walks up to him. “It’s seat yourself, sir. Do you need help finding a table?”

Kai gives a fake smile. “I came to meet up with some friends, and I think they got here before me. I’m trying to find their table.”

A waitress walks up to them, and Kai is somewhat taken aback by the bright red hair. 

“Kai, right? Your friends made a reservation in the back room.” 

The first server frowns. “We do reservations?” He asks.

The girl gives him a look. “Only for special customers.” She turns back to Kai. “If you’ll follow me.”

The brunet nods, and lets himself be led through several doors and into a nice back room. It’s much nicer than the rest of the restaurant, which is somewhat baffling. Why would it be so nice if they rarely use it?

The other three members of the team are already there, sitting at the table. There’s a plate of food in the center, but it looks untouched.

The red-haired girl leaves, and Kai sits in the open seat. “Sorry I’m late, sir.” He addresses Morro. 

The mastermind glares at him. “Don’t let it happen again.”

He quickly nods. “I’ll do my best, sir.”

“Drop the  _ ‘sir’ _ , I have a name.” Morro orders, before turning back to the rest of the team. 

“I’ve started to come up with a plan, but I’m going to need to know your strengths and weaknesses. Ronin, I’ve worked with you enough to know yours, but you two will need to make me a list of what you can and can’t do.” He directs the last part to Kai and Cryptor, and it’s easy to see how he’s silently daring the hacker to defy him.

The brunet glances around the table. He knows what his weakness is: empathy. But he can’t quite tell that to Morro. So he’ll need to think of other things that could pull him behind in combat, because otherwise the mastermind will get suspicious.

“When do you need the list by?” Cryptor asks.

“As soon as you can get it to me. But for now, we need to go over what information we have on the Ninja. Cryptor, you’re the expert on Zane. What can you tell us about him?”

Uh oh. Hopefully they aren’t expecting him to know a lot about Cole… 

“I can tell you almost anything. You’ll have to specify.” The hacker stares Morro down.

“Fine. What are his strengths and weaknesses? We’ll need to match them up with our own.” The mastermind doesn’t back off, maintaining eye contact with Cryptor the whole time.

Ronin just sits there, wordlessly eyeing the two of them. He and Kai exchange a glance, but the brunet isn’t entirely sure what it means.

“That’s the thing. I can’t find any major weaknesses. His empathy holds him back, and he’s not too skilled at combat, but that’s all I can find. He doesn’t seem to have any major fears or-“

“There’s something else.” Ronin cuts in. “A weakness that three of them have. They’re in a relationship.”

Morro turns to him. “With who?”

“Each other. Cole, Jay, and Zane are all dating. I’m not sure how, but we could use that against them.”

Morro nods. “If we can get our hands on one of them, we’ll be able to manipulate the others. So we’ll need to decide which one to go after. As much as I hate Lloyd, he’s not part of the relationship, so he’s out. Jay is skilled in mechanics, so he would have a higher chance of escaping. That leaves Zane and Cole.”

The mastermind turns to Kai. “How confident are you in your abilities? Do you think you could take down Cole?”

Kai hesitates a moment. Could he take down such a skilled fighter?

“I’m not sure.” He admits. “I’d need to see him in action.”

Morro nods. “Then that settles it. We’ll bring in Zane, and then use him as bait to lure and kill the others.”

Kai fights back a grimace. Great, more killing. It’s not like he’s still having nightmares about the last time he took a life.

Oh wait, he is!

“And how are we going to take down Zane?” Ronin asks. “He’s not an easy guy to find.”

Cryptor pulls out his phone. “He went out earlier this morning, I can hack the cameras and see if I can find where he went.

“He was out in public?” Morro questions. “They never go out in public.”

“Are you doubting me?” Cryptor snaps, his voice cold as ice.

“Just find him.” The mastermind glares. “You have Kai’s number, right? Once you’ve got his location, have the rookie take him down. From there, we’ll bring him to base.”

Kai wants to argue that he’s not a rookie, but he keeps his mouth shut. Compared to these guys, he kind of is.

Cryptor nods, but his good eye is focused on his phone as he rapidly types on it. “Got it. Anything else we need to go over?”

“No. Unless one of you has a question, that should be it.” Morro’s tone conveys that he really,  **_really_ ** doesn’t want to hear any questions that they might have.

Cryptor gets up from his seat. “I’ll see you all later.” He walks out the door. 

Morro turns to Kai. “You’re dismissed.”

The brunet nods, getting to his feet. He hesitates a moment, before walking back out. He can’t go home, he’s supposed to be working. So what should he do? He could stop by Jay’s again, but he said he was busy this morning, and Nya might see him in the halls.

He could hit the gym again, but he doesn’t want to be sore while he’s trying to fight someone. He could go shopping, but they aren’t running out of anything, and he doesn’t just want to blow money. 

… this is why he needs friends.

Maybe he could go to the park? But that sounds boring. So what should he do? Just walk around aimlessly?

Well, he’s already doing that. But he doesn’t want to do it for over an hour. 

His phone dings- his iPhone, not his burner- and he pulls it out of his pocket. A text from Nya? She thinks he’s working, though. She never interrupts him when he’s working.

Heart racing, he opens the text.

_ ‘Your working so you can reply later but the cute neighbor wants your number can I give it to him’ _

He breathes a sigh of relief. She’s okay.

Then the rest of the message clicks in. A smile crossing his face, he waits a few beats before responding.

_ ‘yeah sure’ _

There, it’s casual. No way for her to tell that he likes him. 

_ ‘Y are you responding your at work’ _

Kai hesitates a moment. Time to twist the truth again. 

_ ‘u dont txt me while i wrk so i thought u might b in trouble’ _

There, it’s not quite a lie, but it’s still not explaining what he can’t tell her. He’s only had to flat-out lie on a few occasions, he can usually get by on half-truths.

_ ‘Oh sorry’ _

It’s quickly followed up by another message.

_ ‘Hes pocket sized its adorable sorry ill stop.’ _

Kai fights the pang of jealousy. He hesitates for a moment before replying.

_ ‘dibs’ _

_ ‘Your no fun :/’ _

He rolls his eyes. Yeah, well, too late. Jay already likes him back, anyways.

_ ‘i gtg tho wrking’ _

_ ‘See you later then’ _

He puts his phone back in his pocket and continues walking down the street. He idly wanders around, not paying too much attention to where he’s going.

His phone dings again, and he pulls it out to look at the number. He doesn’t recognize it, but he opens the text anyway.

_ ‘Hey it’s Jay!!! Your sister said ur working but I don’t think there are gigs in your division rn?? Ignore me if I’m wrong’ _

Kai smiles. He’s got Jay’s number! He quickly makes his neighbor a contact. After he does, he glances over the message again. He hesitates a moment before replying.

_ ‘yeah she doesnt know about my job’ _

He waits anxiously for an answer. After a beat of hesitation, he starts to make his way to the park so he can text without being in people’s way.

_ ‘Ok I’ll make sure not to tell her. But are u free rn??’ _

Hey, a solution to the boredom problem!

_ ‘yeah whats up’ _

There’s a pause, and Kai frowns. But the next message does come through, even though it takes longer than he was expecting.

_ ‘So I mentioned you to my friend Leyton and he wants to meet you and I thought maybe we could all hang at my place?? Totally cool if you don’t want to’ _

Jay mentioned him to a friend? Could it be that he was describing Kai as a crush?

A grin on his face, he checks the time. Nya should have left the apartment about three minutes ago, and by the time he gets there, twenty five.

_ ‘sure be right over’ _

He puts his phone away and practically skips down to the apartment. He can’t help it, he’s so excited to see Jay again with his new discovery of shared feelings!

He checks the  _ ‘Find My iPhone’ _ app to make sure that Nya’s really out, and upon confirmation, goes over to Jay’s apartment, knocking on the door.

It quickly opens, an excited Jay standing there. He opens the door so that the brunet can get in. “Come on in!” He grins.

Kai smiles and makes his way inside. He glances around in surprise, the place is almost all the way unpacked. That was really fast considering he only moved in yesterday.

He spots a young-looking blond on the couch, but the boy stands up when he sees the brunet. “You must be Kai. It’s nice to meet you.” He holds out his hand.

Jay shuts the door and heads over to them.

Kai walks over and gives him his handshake. “Uh, yeah. And you’re Leyton, right?”

“Leyton Green.” The blond confirms. “I’d like to say that Jay’s told me a lot about you, but he only mentioned your existence yesterday.”

“Oh, we only met yesterday.” Kai explains, ignoring the skip in his chest as he realizes that Jay must have talked to someone shortly after meeting him.

“That explains it.” Leyton nods.

Jay glances between them. “You guys like video games? I just got the new Starfarer one.”

“Oh, that comic thing?” Kai frowns, thinking back to what he knows on it. “Didn’t they start making movies based off of those?”

“Yep! I own them all.” Jay proclaims proudly.

“I never should’ve introduced him, he’s obsessed with it now.” Leyton tells him, rolling his eyes. “I’m starting to think he’s going to try to build his own spaceship.”

“Ooh, that’s a good idea!” Jay grins, walking over to the TV and starting to set up a console. 

“Please tell me you’re kidding.” Leyton glances at the ginger nervously, sitting back down on the couch. After a moment, Kai follows suit.

“When do  **_I_ ** ever kid?” Jay mocks, but it’s sincerity is doubtful, especially considering the laughter that follows.

Leyton snorts. “I have yet to see you go one day without pranking someone.”

Kai glances between them. They clearly know each other well, and he feels slightly out of place. Fortunately, Leyton seems to notice this.

“Are you any good at console games?” The blond asks.

Kai glances away. “I’ve, uh, I’ve never actually played.” He admits.

Jay looks up at him. “We need to fix that.” He gets up, handing his guests each a controller before grabbing his own. 

He smushes himself in between the two of them, despite the lack of room. 

“Hey!” Leyton complains. But after a moment of uncomfortable squished-ness, he gets up and sits on the floor. “I am not dealing with that today.”

Kai frowns. “Did something happen?”

Leyton hits something on his controller, and the game starts up. He doesn’t acknowledge the brunet’s question, so Kai just lets it go.

They kill a good few hours on the game, and Kai discovers that Jay is really,  **_really_ ** good at video games. Leyton is decent, and Kai?

He’s died at least thirty times. 

In fairness, he’s never played a console game before- those things were always  **_way_ ** outside of his budget. But that doesn’t stop his neighbor from laughing at him.

And for some reason, Kai doesn’t mind being laughed at. As long as the ginger is smiling, right? Because damn is that smile cute. It’s almost unfair how adorable it is.

He dies a few more times just because he can’t tear his eyes off of his neighbor.

Unfortunately, Leyton seems to notice this. Hopefully he’s not going to tell Jay- Kai’s still not entirely certain that the ginger feels the same. He’s pretty sure, but it’s better safe than sorry.

Time flies by all too quickly, and Jay eventually turns off the game.

“I should get going.” Leyton starts, beginning to make his way towards the door.

“C’mon, you guys can at least stay for lunch. I’ll order us some pizza.” Jay offers. 

Leyton looks at Kai, which catches him by surprise. He wants his opinion? Why?

“Uh, I could stay a little longer.” The brunet agrees.

Jay brightens, turning to Leyton. “Just for another half-hour?” He pleads.

The blond hesitates a beat, but ultimately gives in. “Okay.”

Jay fist pumps. “Yes!” He pulls his phone from his pocket. “Any requests?”

Kai quickly shakes his head. “I’m good with anything.” 

“Uh-huh. Look, promise I won’t judge you, even if it’s weird. I’ve got a friend who puts vegetables on it to the point where you can’t even taste the pizza, I’ve seen it all.”

Kai fights back a smile at the image of a pizza smothered in vegetables. “Meat lovers.” He caves. 

“I’m a cheese guy, myself. And Leyton, I’m assuming you want pepperoni?” Jay turns to the blond.

Leyton nods. “Same as always.” He confirms.

Jay dials the number for the pizza place, and Leyton gestures for Kai to follow him out of the room. The brunet hesitates a moment, but does as instructed.

Once they’re in the other room, the blond turns to him. “What do you want with Jay?”

“Huh?”

“I know who you are, Kai Smith. What do you want with my friend?” Leyton repeats.

“What’s it to you?” Kai snaps, narrowing his eyes. If Leyton hasn’t figured it out, he’s sure as hell not going to tell him. 

“He’s my friend, and I happen to care about what happens to him.” The blond shoots back. “Now answer the damn question or I’ll call the cops on you.”

Kai hesitates. He could take down a few officers, but if they had his name, it could put Nya at risk. Not to mention how Pythor would react… 

“You can’t do that, Jay’s got the same job as me.” He argues. He knows that Leyton likely knows that and has a retort, but to his surprise, the blond just stares at him.

“He does?”

**_Shit_ ** .

“Uhhhhh nope.” Kai glances away. “That- that was a joke. I’m not very good at them, though.”

Why is it that he can only lie sometimes? He should either be good or bad at it, not just randomly jumping between expert and novice.

Leyton keeps staring at him. “Sure. A joke.” He agrees. “But even if the two of you are co-workers, that doesn’t explain the way you were looking at him.”

Kai glares at the blond. “I don’t have to answer your questions.”

Leyton sighs. “Kai, I’ve been more than lenient with you. But-“

“You have?”

The blond glares. “What do you want with Jay?” He demands.

“Well, I’m hoping for a boyfriend. But a regular friend would be nice too.”

Why did he just tell him that?! What is he, stupid? He went through all that to avoid telling him, and then just says it flat out.

What the fuck is wrong with him.

Leyton’s eyes widen. “I see.” He frowns, clearly deep in thought. A few conflicted expressions cross his face before it goes blank, so calm that it’s obviously a mask.

“Don’t tell him I told you that.” Kai pleads. God, he’s such an  **_idiot_ ** . Where is his verbal filter?

Leyton pauses. “Okay.” He agrees. “I won’t.”

Kai breathes a sigh of relief. Thank god. He-

The brunet’s burner starts ringing, and he mutters a curse, turning away from Leyton. “I need to take this.” Without waiting for a response, he steps out of the room, past Jay and into a different section of the apartment.

“Kai here, what’s up?”

“It’s me.” Cryptor replies. “I think I got him, meet me at the cafe outside Borg Tower.” The line cuts. Huh. Everyone just orders him around and then hangs up.

God damn it, now he has to leave instead of hanging out with Jay.

Speaking of Jay, the ginger pokes his head into the room. “Hey, pizza will be here in about twenty minutes, anything you want to do until then?”

“I have to go.” Kai grimances. “Work thing.”

“Oh! Well, tell me how it goes. Good luck!” His neighbor smiles, before heading back to where Leyton is. 

So the brunet starts to make his way to Borg Tower. Great, now he’s going to have to take down one of the Ninja.

What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't already guessed, Leyton is a code name. Considering that his last name is Green, you should be able to guess who he is from there.


	6. Passive-Aggressive Threats

Kai steps into the cafe, glancing around. He spots Cryptor sitting at a table in the back, and makes his way over to the hacker. He sits down next to him. 

“He’s in the tower, we just need to wait for him to leave. Once he does, follow him until he reaches a relatively quiet area, then make your move. After you take him down, call me. My number should be on your phone. Any questions?”

“How do I know which guy is him?” Kai asks, looking over at the tower.

“He’s tall, pale, and has a platinum blond quiff.” Cryptor tells him without missing a beat. “I’ll point him out to you.”

Kai doesn’t question how he knows this, he just nods and looks at the entrance to the tower.

After a few minutes, Cryptor makes a gesture that could be interpreted as a stretch, but says, “There. See him?”

The brunet looks to where he’s gesturing, and after a moment of searching, spots someone who matches the description. “Yep. I’ll call you when I’ve got him.” He stands up, casually making his way out of the cafe.

He does his best to remain inconspicuous, but from the way Zane is glancing around, he either knows he’s being followed, or is being very cautious.

Hopefully it’s the latter.

He follows him through the crowds, occasionally falling back a little or pretending to be interested in something along the way. That should make the blond less suspicious.

Eventually, they reach a less crowded section of the city. Slowly, the number of people trickles down until it’s just them and a few others.

It’s time to make a move.

Kai walks up closer, until he’s right behind him. Zane glances back at him, but he doesn’t look surprised or scared. If anything, he looks annoyed.

“Kai, I presume?”

The brunet blinks in surprise. How does he know his name? But he quickly shakes it off. He’s one of the best agents to ever live, he can figure out a guy's name.

Kai doesn’t answer, he just stares darkly at the blond. How should he go about doing this? There are still a few people nearby, should he take them into account?

“If you plan to kill me, I must warn you that-”

Fuck it.

Kai decks him, and he crumples to the ground. The few people there turn and stare at him, but he ignores them, picking up the blond and slinging him over his shoulder. He grabs his burner and calls Cryptor.

“That was fast.” The hacker notes. “Only twenty minutes. I’m impressed.”

“What do I do now?” Kai asks.

A dark car pulls up beside him, and the brunet eyes it warily.

“Ronin should show up in a moment, he knows where he’s going. Put Zane in the car and get in.” Cryptor orders before hanging up.

Kai puts the phone away and walks up to the car. The window rolls down, and he sees Ronin in the front seat. “Put him in the back.”

Wordlessly, Kai does as he’s told, before going and sitting in the passenger's seat.

The two of them sit there in silence, and Kai looks out the windows for a while, but eventually grows bored of that. Would it be rude if he started playing a game on his phone?

“So, how’s your day been?” He asks Ronin.

The man doesn’t reply, and Kai gives in and pulls out his phone.

After about a half hour, they pull up to a storage facility. Ronin turns off the car and hops out, so Kai does the same. 

He walks around to the back and pulls Zane out, slinging him over his shoulder once more.

Morro stands right inside the doors as they step into the facility. He nods when he spots the blond. “Good work.”

The brunet nods back. “Where do I put him?”

Morro leads him through the facility, though it doesn’t really look like one. It looks more like some kind of super villain base.

Wait… this is their base, isn’t it?

Huh.

The mastermind takes him down a set of stairs, and leads him through a long series of halls. After a while, they reach a small room with a chair. Said chair is covered in restraints to the point where you’d think they’re apprehending an escape artist. 

Kai glances at Morro, and the mastermind gestures at the chair. So he sets Zane in it, and his superior starts strapping on the restraints. 

The blond wakes up as the last restraint is being done. He blinks and looks around, clearly dazed. 

After a moment, his gaze settles on Morro. “You.” He glares. 

Morro smiles. “Me.” He agrees. “Long time no see, huh?”

“My teammates will come for me.”

The mastermind laughs. “Good. I’m counting on it.” And with that, he exits the room. Kai hesitates a beat before following. As he leaves, he glances back at the blond in a silent apology. He’d avoid doing this if he could. But he doesn’t have a choice.

He follows Morro back through the maze of hallways and onto the main floor.

“Grab your things and get set up here, the Ninja could show at any time, and I want to be prepared.” The mastermind orders.

Kai nods, though he whines internally. Seriously? He’s going to be stuck in a storage facility for the foreseeable future? Not cool.

He heads back to his apartment, silently dreading the fact that he’ll have to tell Nya about going on a ‘business trip’. He sighs as he steps inside.

His sister is sitting on the couch, writing something in a notebook- most likely doing schoolwork. She looks up when Kai enters the room. “Are you done with work already? That was fast.”

The brunet winces. “I, uh… I have to go on a business trip.” He lies. “I don’t know when I’ll be back, but hopefully it’ll be before the end of the month.”

Nya’s eyes widen. “Wha- did they just now tell you this? No warning or anything?”

Kai shakes his head.

“You really need a new job.” His sister grumbles. “I’m going on those college tours from tomorrow to next week, and you’ll be on a trip.”

The brunet sighs. “I know, I know, and I’m sorry. I’ll call you okay?” And with that, he heads back to his room and packs his things.

He bids goodbye to Nya and starts to head down to the base. But much to his surprise, Jay is leaving his apartment at the same time.

The ginger turns to him. “Oh! How’d the work thing go?”

“One down, three to go.” Kai smiles. “I’ve got to go camp out at the base to make sure the others don’t get him back, though, so I might not see you for a while.”

“Wait, you got one?” Jay stares at him in horror. Funny, Kai thought he’d be more in awe.

“Can’t tell you who it is, sorry.” Kai frowns. He doesn’t think Morro would approve of him sharing that information, even if it’s with a co-worker. “I’ll see you later!” Without waiting for a response, he starts making his way back to the facility.

As he’s leaving, he hears Jay getting on the phone with someone, but he brushes it off. The guy must be really popular to talk to people so much.

Or maybe it’s just that he actually has more than one friend. That could be it.

He makes it back to the base with his things, and is greeted by Cryptor at the door. “Morro has a room set up for you.”

Wow, do these guys not know how to say ‘hi’? It’s starting to look like they don’t. 

But he just nods his confirmation and lets himself be led to said room. It’s surprisingly nice, even nicer than his room in his apartment.

Looks like they blew a lot of money on this place.

He sets his bag on the bed, and heads back out into the main section of the base.

Morro is sitting at a table, talking to Cryptor. The brunet hesitates a moment before walking up to them.

“Uh, hey. Is there a certain place I should be posted at?” He asks.

Morro glances over at him. “Right next to him. Not outside the room, right next to him. While you’re here, I want you to keep eyes on him as much as you can, and when you can’t, make sure someone else does. Got it?”

Kai quickly nods. “Understood.” He agrees. He snags a couple of guns that he finds on the racks before heading back through the maze of hallways. He steps into Zane’s cell, and the moment he enters, icy blue eyes are locked onto him.

“I will not give you any information.” The blond tells him. 

“Not here to interrogate you.” Kai replies. He double checks that his gun is loaded before turning back to the Ninja. 

“If not that, then why am I here?” Zane questions.

“From what I’ve heard, you’re pretty smart. Figure it out yourself.” The brunet counters. He glares at the blond. It’s unfair to blame him for being trapped in the base, but he needs to blame **_someone_ **, and he can’t get upset with his boss.

So yeah. He’s blaming Zane.

The blond frowns. “You are hoping to lure in the others. Clever, but they will discover that this is a trap.”

“Bold of you to assume that they’ll avoid said trap. They’re your boyfriends, they won’t just leave you here.” Kai brushes him off.

“What makes you say that I am in a romantic relationship with my teammates?” Zane questions.

“I- wait a minute, you’re trying to interrogate me, aren’t you? Clever, but not clever enough. I’m not just some rookie, you know.” 

“I am aware of your accomplishments, Kai Smith.” The blond glares. “But are you aware of mine?”

“I don't need to.” The brunet shoots back. “You’re Zane, a member of the Ninja team. That’s all I need to know.”

“I see. Then it would not interest you to know that I do intelligence research, nor would you be concerned by the fact I have looked into your past. Tell me, how is your sister doing?”

Kai freezes. “You’re the good guys. You wouldn’t hurt a civilian.” He argues.

“Casualties may be necessary in order to take down Pythor.” Zane’s icy stare sends shivers down his spine.

“Shut up.” The brunet snarls, ignoring the way his hands begin to shake. No. They wouldn’t go after Nya. They’re the Ninja, they wouldn’t threaten a civilian.

But wouldn’t they? How would they take down such big opponents if they weren’t willing to fight dirty?

Kai swallows. No. They can’t go after Nya. They **_can't_ **. He’s doing this to keep her safe, not to put her in more danger!

“It would be a shame if something happened to her. Car accidents are surprisingly common, and I would not be surprised if-“

“You’re going to shut your goddamn mouth, and you're going to do it now.” The brunet growls, his fists clenching around his gun.

“Am I? I was not aware that you had control over my motor functions.” The blond arches an eyebrow.

Kai pulls out his burner, quickly calling Cryptor- his is the only number he has saved.

“Yeah, hi, it’s Kai. Can I get a gag or something? I can’t get this guy to shut up, and I’m tired of his passive-aggressive threats.” 

There’s a pause, and for a second Kai wonders if he accidentally called the wrong number. But then the hacker speaks.

“He’s making threats? That’s… **_interesting_ **. And no, you don’t need to gag him. If he gets to be too much, just knock him out again.”

“Got it.” Kai agrees, though he internally groans. Great, now he’ll have to hurt the guy, which could make him more likely to go through with his threats.

“Good. Don’t call me again unless absolutely necessary.” And with that, the hacker hangs up.

Kai puts his burner away, turning back to his captive. He glares heavily, but makes no move to knock him unconscious.

“Is something wrong?” Zane asks innocently.

The brunet doesn’t answer, he just clenches his teeth and looks away. He’s not sure how long he can handle guarding this guy.

“I will give you a chance to surrender.” The blond tells him. “While Lloyd is upset with you for killing his father, I can assure that minimal harm will come upon you if you stand down now.”

“I will knock you out again.” Kai threatens.

That seems to do the trick, and Zane falls into silence. The two of them stay there for about two hours before Kai’s shift ends and three guards come to take his place.

It’s cool how they think that he's equal to three highly skilled guys.

He puts his gun away and trudges up to the room he’ll be staying in. He kills a few hours on his phone before changing into pajamas and crawling under the covers.

Hopefully Cole will show up when he’s guarding Zane tomorrow so they can just get this over with. He doesn’t want to stay near the blond any longer than he has to.


	7. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

The door slams open, and Kai looks around groggily. It takes him a second to remember where he is, and by the time he does, his covers have been pulled off. “Get up.” Morro orders.

Kai groans internally, but gets out of bed. He  **_really_ ** doesn’t like staying at the base. 

“Get dressed, we have reason to believe the Ninja will be making a move today. I’m not sure how they figured out what was going on so fast, but we need to make sure we keep up.” The mastermind explains.

The brunet nods, and Morro leaves the room. With a sigh, he starts getting ready for the day. Hopefully the Ninja do make their move today- the sooner this is over with, the better. 

Once he’s ready, he heads back to the main area. Morro tells him to go watch Zane again, so he grabs some guns and walks back through the halls to where the blond is being kept. Hopefully he won’t make any more threats this time around. 

When he steps into the room, he lets the other three guards leave. Even though Zane’s in a chair that’s probably ridiculously uncomfortable, he’s somehow still asleep.

Well, if he’s unconscious then he can’t be making threats, so good for him. Even though he’s a little jealous that he gets to sleep in. 

It’s mind-numbingly boring to just stand there with a gun, but he’s used to it. It’s one of the main components of his job, after all. 

Eventually, Zane wakes up. He looks around with a confused expression, but when his gaze lands on Kai, he seems to realize what’s going on.

“Good morning.” The blond greets. 

“Uh, yeah. Good morning, I guess.” Kai agrees, eyeing Zane warily. What is he trying to do now? He probably has some kind of goal in mind, but what is it?

“Are you doing well?”

“Please stop talking, I have a job to do.” The brunet glares. “I’ve been given permission to knock you out if you chat too much, so I recommend you watch your mouth.”

“I see. Well, I suppose that would mean-”

He’s cut off by a sudden thud from outside. The door is pushed open, and Kai finds himself face-to-face with a tall noirette. The man immediately punches him in the face, and the brunet stumbles backward. Kai lifts his gun to shoot, but is quickly tackled, the weapon thrown from his grasp.

Ah. This must be Cole.

The man moves to pin him, but Kai knees him in the crotch at the same time he does a headbut, temporarily stunning him. He then uses the opportunity to throw the guy to the side, slamming him into the wall. 

The brunet gets to his feet, and Cole attempts to do the same, but Kai kicks him in the face before running over to his gun. He snags it off the floor and flicks off the safety. “Stand down,” he snarls.

Cole ignores his warning, getting to his feet. He attempts to pull a pistol from a holster, but Kai shoots him in the shoulder before he can reach it. 

“ **_COLE_ ** !” Zane yells as the man skids backwards.

Kai shoots him in the leg before he can recover. Really, the fight was over as soon as he regained his gun.

Cole manages to get his pistol out and fires at Kai, but the brunet’s sudden movement and his injured shoulder make him miss. Kai runs over to the noirette and kicks his feet out from under him, and once the man falls over, kicks him in the face. 

Cole falls to the ground, unconscious.

In the movies, fights usually last for a long time. But most really just happen in a few life-changing minutes. Anything longer than that and it’s just a beatdown.

“ **_NO_ ** !” Zane looks horrified as he strains against his bonds. 

Kai pulls out his burner and calls Cryptor.

“I got Cole.” He tells him.

“Already?” The hacker sounds surprised.

“Wasn’t as hard as you guys were making it out to be. I think the stories might’ve been a little exaggerated.” He lies. If he hadn’t moved as quickly as he did, he’d be the one on the ground. They were pretty close to matched, and it’s only because of luck that Kai managed to beat him.

“I see. Well, I’ll send some guys to take care of the body and take over the rest of your shift.” Cryptor tells him.

Kai freezes. He didn’t actually kill the agent, and he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want another life to be lost at his hands.

“I’ll take care of the body. I don’t want the police to figure it out because of some amature not doing it right.”

“If that’s what you want.” The hacker agrees.

This time, Kai is the one to hang up. He turns to see Zane’s horrified expression. “You- you-” He can’t seem to find the words, staring at his boyfriend's body. The blond is most likely under the impression that the agent is dead, and the brunet makes no move to correct him.

The guards show up a few minutes later, and Kai nods to them, before dragging Cole’s unconscious body out of the base. He gets a few stares from the guys that work there, and hears their awed whispers. He ignores them, too deep in thought to care.

He gets the agent out into a nearby alley, and he leans him against the wall. “What am I going to do with you…” He grumbles.

If the noirette’s wounds are left unattended, he’ll likely die. But he can’t exactly drop him off at the hospital. So what should he do?

… Nya’s not at the apartment. She left for her trip this morning. If he plays his cards right, he can get Cole there and heal him before she gets back. 

He really shouldn’t do this. He should just finish him off and dispose of the body.

But he can’t bring himself to do it. Damn him and his conscience. Why does he have to have so many morals? It would be so much easier to do his job if he was an asshole.

But for better or worse, he’s not. And now he’s going to save the guy he’s supposed to kill.

This won’t end well.

* * *

He manages to get Cole into his apartment without anyone seeing him. He’s not entirely sure how he pulled it off, but it probably included a healthy dose of luck.

He drags the agent onto his bed, cursing as he realizes the trip aggravated some of his wounds. He’d done some research on how to treat bullet wounds in the past in case he got shot, but he never thought he would need the knowledge in a situation like this.

He checks to make sure the bullets went all the way through and aren’t lodged inside him, breathing a sigh of relief when he realizes they did.

But while he’s looking him over, he can’t help but notice how ripped the guy is. He’s strong, built like a tank. But even with his rough features, there’s something soft to his face, something kind.

Kai mentally smacks himself. He needs to get a grip! Why is he finding everyone attractive all of a sudden?!

He shakes himself from his thoughts. What’s the next step? Putting pressure on the wound. Luckily, there's only two, so he should be able to do it. He grabs a few towels and places them over the injuries before starting to push down on them. The blood stains them red, and Kai curses as he realizes he’ll have to throw them out without Nya finding out.

He removes a hand for a moment to set a fifteen minute timer, then goes right back to pushing down. Once the timer is up, he should be able to take his hands off.

He hears his phone ding, but he ignores it. Time seems to trickle by slowly, but timer does go off eventually.

He lifts his hands and removes the towels, breathing a sigh of relief when he realizes the bleeding has stopped.

Next step is to wash the wound. He grabs a bowl and fills it with warm water. Luckily, they have mild soap- the kind that won’t aggravate the injuries.

But as he’s starting to clean out the shoulder wound, he hears a shuddering gasp above him. He looks over to see dark chocolate eyes locked with his own.

There’s a heavy pause.

Then Cole suddenly jerks, trying to throw him off. Kai is quick to pin him down, and the agent struggles under him.

“Would you calm down and let me save your life?!” The brunet snaps. “I was supposed to kill you, you know! If you keep this up, I could very well go through with that!”

It’s an idle threat, but it seems to do the trick, Cole slowly starting to relax. A few moments after he calms down, Kai lets go and goes back to the bullet wound. 

They spend a few minutes in silence, and the brunet finishes cleaning out the shoulder injury. He grabs a clean towel and goes down to the one in his thigh.

“You were supposed to kill me.”

Kai glances up at him. “Yeah, we covered that already.”

“Why didn’t you?” Cole questions, clearly uneasy. He looks around the room like he’s hoping it’ll give him the answers he’s looking for.

“Once I figure that out, you’ll be the first one to know.” Kai sighs. Well, he’d be the only one to know- this isn’t the kind of information he could share with anyone- Jay included.

Silence takes over once more. Minutes tick past, and the brunet finally finishes cleaning out the wound. 

He grabs some gauze and starts to wrap it around the leg injury. “Your boyfriend’s a dick.” He informs the noirette.

“Uh, what?” Cole demands, clearly offended.

“Zane. He threatened my family.” Kai explains. “He’s a dick.”

“You kidnapped him! What else was he going to do, just let you interrogate him?”

“We weren’t interrogating him, we were using him as bait so I could kill you. Which I didn’t do. You're welcome for that, by the way.” The brunet glares.

Cole stares at him. Kai can’t quite read his expression, but he’s definitely not happy.

He ties and tapes the wrapped gauze before moving to the other wound. His phone dings again, but he ignores it. He can worry about it later.

It takes a little while, but he finally finishes caring for the injuries. He sits back, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Can I go now?” Cole asks, clearly annoyed.

“Fuck no, you’re staying here until you’re healed. Get some sleep.” Kai orders. He starts to put away the medical things he used, ignoring the noirette’s glare.

“I have things to do, you know.”

“Things like breaking your boyfriend out of my base? Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.” The brunet glares. He finishes putting the things away, and steps outside of his room, closing the door behind him.

Someone knocks at the entrance to the apartment. Puzzled, Kai goes over and opens the door.

Jay stands there. His lip is bloodied from bites, his eyes are unfocused, and his hands shake heavily.

“What’s wrong?” Kai demands, ushering his neighbor inside. He brings him over to the couch, gently urging him into the seat.

“Everything.” Jay tells him miserably. 

Today is just so damn hectic. Nothing is going the way he wants it to. It’s starting to get out of hand… 

“How can I help?”

“It’s a work thing, I’m not supposed to share it.” The ginger looks away. “But I don’t really want to talk about it, anyways. You- you said you captured one of the Ninja?”

Ah. He’s looking for a distraction. Something to drag his thoughts away from whatever’s going on.

“Uh, yeah. Zane.” Kai confirms. Fuck secrets, Jay’s upset and likes hearing about the Ninja, so he’s going to hear everything the brunet knows about them.

Well, almost everything.

He waits a beat before continuing. “Cole came to try to break him out.”

Jay whips around. “He- he did?” He seems almost excited.

“Yeah. I killed him.”

The ginger freezes, the smile that had begun to cross his face slowly starting to die. “Wha- what?”

“Cole came to try to break Zane out, and I put a bullet in his head.” Kai explains. Jay doesn’t seem to like this answer very much.

“I- I thought you didn’t want to kill anyone!”

“I do what my job requires.” The brunet forces himself to stay calm and relaxed. He’s not entirely sure what’s got the ginger so upset- he’s the one who brought up the Ninja, after all.

Jay opens his mouth to reply, but Kai’s bedroom door starts to creek open.

“Like hell I’m just going to sleep.” Cole’s voice grumbles.

Jay’s eyes go wide. “Wait-“

Kai jumps to his feet. “I just remembered a thing I need to do!” Without waiting for a response, he darts over to Cole, who’s standing in the doorway.

“Back in the room!” He hisses quietly. 

The noirette glares. “What? No, you can’t just make me-“

“Kai, is someone back there?” Jay calls.

Cole’s eyes widen. He opens his mouth to say something, but Kai cuts him off.

“Uh, I have a friend over!” He lies. “He’s a little sick, so I’m letting him  **_lay down_ ** for a little while.” He directs the middle words at the agent in front of him.

There’s a pause, and he hears Jay’s footsteps getting closer.

“Cole, I’m not messing around here, back in the damn room! I have company, and you’re supposed to be dead!” He whisper-yells.

The noirette glares at him, but there’s no time for any more talk. Kai quickly shoves the agent into his room and pulls the door closed, just as his neighbor walks up.

“Could I meet this friend?” Jay asks, eyeing the brunet suspiciously.

Did he figure it out?! Shit. He needs to come up with something, and fast.

“Uh, nope! He’s, uh, he’s trying to sleep right now.” Kai gives his best winning smile. “Lets go back to the living room, we really shouldn’t bother him.”

Jay nods slowly. “Right. Okay.” He agrees, but it’s obvious he knows that somethings up.

Relieved, he leads the ginger back to the couch, where they sit down.

“So, you wanted to talk about the Ninja, right?” Kai prompts. He probably shouldn’t be continuing this line of conversation, but he’s going to anyways.

“You know what? I think I’m doing better. Thank you.” Jay smiles.

“O-Okay?” Kai agrees. “No problem. I’ll talk to you later, then?”

“Yeah. Talk to you later.” And with that, his neighbor leaves, likely heading back to his own apartment.

Hopefully he hasn’t figured out what’s going on… 


	8. A Way Out

Kai goes back to his room, glaring at the injured agent. “I told you to sleep.” He growls. “You almost blew my cover!”

“Who was that?” Cole questions, narrowing his eyes.

“A co-worker. We’re lucky he hasn’t figured it out as is, so don’t do anything like that again. He could tell someone!” Kai explains. “And then we’d both be in trouble!”

Cole slowly nods. “Yeah. Okay.” He agrees with a thoughtful expression.

The brunet breathes a sigh of relief. “Good. Now go to sleep, for real this time. It’ll help you heal faster.”

“And why do you want me to heal faster?”

“So I can get you the hell out of my apartment!” Kai snaps. 

“But then why bring me here in the first place?” The agent scowls suspiciously.

“Shut up and sleep.” And with that, he walks out of the room, closing the door behind him as he makes his way to the couch.

He checks his phone, and realizes that the messages he got were from Jay, asking if he could come over. Oh. Oops? He  **_was_ ** a little busy… 

Kai’s only been sitting there for a minute when he hears the door creek open.

Cole stumbles out of his room. The brunet groans as the agent makes his way over to the couch and sits down beside him. 

“So, what’s your co-worker’s name?” The noirette asks.

“I’m not answering any of your questions.” Kai glares. “Go back to bed.”

“You’ve killed people before. What makes me different?” Cole changes topics.

“I had a chance to save you, so I took it. I didn’t want to kill those people, but I didn’t have a choice. I- damn it, I said I wasn’t going to answer any questions! Go to bed!” 

The agent glares at him. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“You know what? Fine. Do whatever. But you need to be gone by the end of next week, got it? And don’t mess with my things.” The brunet glowers.

“Deal.” Cole agrees with a short nod. Funny, Kai didn’t think he’d start relaxing around him this quickly. Maybe there’s something here he’s missing? But the only thing he can think of is Jay coming over.

They sit there in silence for a little while, before the noirette decides to speak up.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, you know. But I have to say, you’re nothing like what I was expecting.”

“How so?” Kai arches an eyebrow.

“I guess I was expecting a remorseless killer, but I don’t think that’s you. I think you made some bad choices, but somehow, you’re still a good person.” Cole explains.

The brunet scoffs. “I’m not a good person. I’m a murderer, remember?”

“I didn’t say you weren’t. I just think that you have more of a moral code than most people would expect from someone like you. I think that you’re trying to do the right thing, and for some reason, you think that this is the best way to accomplish that.”

“Before, it was my only solution. I had no other choice. But now I’m in deep. Too deep. Couldn’t back out if I wanted to.” Kai looks away. Why is he telling him this?

Probably because he’s the only person he  **_can_ ** tell it too. Jay’s a co-worker, and Nya’s in the dark. But someone on the other side might just understand.

“But if you  **_could_ ** back out, would you?” The agent prompts.

Yes. Of course he would. He doesn’t want this! He’s only doing it to keep Nya safe. But if Zane goes through with his threats, it won’t even do that. But as of right now, this is his best chance. His only way to ensure that she’s not in danger.

He doesn’t answer the question.

Cole hesitates a moment before asking, “If I gave you a way out, would you take it?”

In a heartbeat. He’d do anything for that. If he could keep his sister safe without being a monster, without hurting people, it would be everything he’s ever wanted. 

Even so, he doesn’t answer. He can’t bring himself to do it. He’s not sure why he’s so defensive about it, but something inside is preventing him from voicing how he feels.

“Why is this the right thing to do?”

The brunet pauses. Should he share his motives? It could be easily used against him, but Zane has already figured it out. Well, it’s not like he can make it any worse by sharing it now.

“I need to protect my sister.” He explains quietly.

“If I could ensure her safety-“

“But you can’t, so it doesn’t matter.” Kai interrupts. “I’m already risking enough by letting you live, I’m not going to do anything else. If you try anything again, I  **_will_ ** have to go through with it. I don’t care if it makes me a monster. Even if I’m helping you right now, that doesn’t mean that we’re on the same side.”

“What’s something your sister’s good at?” Cole questions.

“Why do you want to know?” The criminal shoots back.

“Kai, please. Just answer the question.”

The brunet hesitates a moment. Cole doesn’t seem to have an ulterior motive, but he can’t be certain. Is it worth the risk?

His mouth moves without his permission. “Robotics. She’s great at inventing things.”

He really needs to get a better verbal filter.

Cole doesn’t respond, he just reaches into a pocket and pulls out a burner. Ah, so they use them too.

He dials a number and holds it up to his ear. “Listen, I know you’re upset, but I have good news: Zane’s alive.”

There’s a muffled response on the other side of the line.

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m good. I got shot twice, but I’m fine. I’ll be back in commission before the end of next week, promise.” He looks over to Kai as he speaks, and the brunet gives him a nod.

There’s another reply.

“I’m laying low right now, so don’t come looking for me. Tell that to the others, too.”

There’s an answer from the other end.

“Yeah. I, uh, I need a favor. We’ve been needing someone to help Jay with his gadgets, and I think I know someone. We’d need to protect them from the underworld, of course, but I think they could be a real asset.”

Kai’s brain short-circuits for a moment. He’s asking for what? But as he starts to piece it all together, it clicks. 

If Nya works with them, she’ll be protected, because they wouldn’t want a non-combat agent to be taken down. If they play this right, she could be almost completely immune to anything they might try.

This is his way out.

There’s a response, but Kai still can’t make out what’s being said.

“Pull a few strings for me, then. I promise it’ll be worth it.” Cole assures the mysterious other.

After a few moments of a muffled reply, the agent smiles. “Thank you. You’re a lifesaver.”

And with that, he hangs up the phone. He turns to Kai, still wearing that smile. “What was that about not being able to assure her safety?”

The criminal stares at the noirette. “I-“

“You get her to take the job, and we’ll handle the rest.” The agent explains.

The brunet has to take a moment, his brain still coming back online. Nya will be safe. He’ll have a way out.

“It’ll take anywhere from a few hours to a few days before she gets the offer, so I recommend you start talking to her about it.” 

Kai quickly nods, pulling out his phone. He hits the call button beside his sister’s name, and holds the phone up to his ear.

“Nya here.” She answers.

“I just talked to a friend, and he mentioned that there was a job opening for an engineer at his department. I mentioned you, talked about a few of your accomplishments, and he seemed pretty impressed. I know you don’t like me meddling with your school work, but I think this might be a good opportunity.” Kai lies. 

“You realize I’m on a college tour right now, right?”

“Nya, when- er,  **_if_ ** \- you get the offer, just think about it, okay? I think you’ll like it.” The brunet pleads.

“You’re really into this one, huh? Alright, I’ll check it out.” She agrees. “But no promises.”

“Of course!” He agrees. “As long as you consider it.”

“I will. I’ll talk to you later, though, I’ve got to go.”

Kai nods, even though she can’t see him. “Alright, talk to you later. Love you!”

“Love you too. Bye!” And with that, she hangs up.

He brings the phone down from his ear. “That’s the best I’m going to get from her.”

Cole nods, but an uneasy expression flickers across his face. “Zane- Zane’s okay, right?”

“He thinks you’re dead and I think he’s upset about it, but last I saw him, he was fine.” Kai answers.

“Good.” The agent breathes a sigh of relief. “They’re not planning on hurting him, right?”

“He’s just bait.” The brunet confirms. “They don’t mean to-“

He’s cut off as his burner starts ringing. He quickly pulls it out of his pocket.

“Hey, it’s Kai.” He greets.

“You finish getting rid of the body?” Morro asks him.

“Yeah. Sorry, was I supposed to come back in?” He internally winces. Why didn’t he realize that?

“That’d be ideal.” The mastermind agrees.

Kai nods, even though he can’t be seen through the phone. “I’ll be right there.”

Morro hangs up.

The brunet turns to Cole. “Morro wants me back at the base, I’ve got to go. Stay in the apartment, okay? I don’t want to get caught.”

The agent nods. “Got it.” He agrees.

And with that, Kai grabs his things and heads back to the base, but this time with a different goal in mind: Getting Zane the hell out of there.


	9. Phone Calls

He arrives at the base, greeted by Cryptor at the entrance.

“You took down Cole.” The hacker seems impressed. “I didn’t think that was possible. It seems I underestimated you.”

“What can I say? It’s almost like I kind of know what I’m doing.” He snarks.

Cryptor doesn’t respond, he just turns and starts making his way back towards where Morro is. After a moment of hesitation, Kai follows. 

He’s going to need to play this smart. He needs to figure out how to get Zane out of here without being suspicious. 

Unfortunately, tactics have never been his strong suit.

The hacker takes him over to Morro, the mastermind sitting at a table as he looks through a clearly classified file that he probably shouldn’t have.

“Ronin will be here in a minute. We need to discuss what we’re going to be doing about the others.” 

Cryptor gives a nod, sitting down. Kai mimics his action, and the three of them wait for the thief to arrive.

It doesn’t take very long, and he comes over and sits beside them. 

For a moment, no one says anything.

Then Morro speaks up. “We have Zane hostage, but we need to find a way to take down Jay and Lloyd. Cole was their main field guy, so the others are unlikely to attempt to break in like he did. So it’ll require a different strategy this time.”

“What’ll we do with Zane in the meantime?” Kai questions.

Morro glances to Cryptor, and the hacker smiles almost evilly. 

“He’s valuable, you know. There are quite a few people dying to get any form of revenge on the Ninja.” 

Oh, that doesn’t sound good.

“That doesn’t really answer my question, though. Are we selling him or something?” He does his best to keep his tone casual, nonchalant.

“We could just hand him over to Pythor and let him figure it out.” Ronin suggests.

“Pythor gave us free reign when it comes to the Ninja, we can do whatever the fuck we want with him.” Morro dismisses the idea. “And I think I know what we should do.”

“And what’s that?” Cryptor prompts, arching an eyebrow.

“He’s already upset from watching his boyfriend die in front of him, I say we heavily traumatize him and then send him back, let the rest of the Ninja deal with the fall out.” The mastermind smiles. 

Do they realize how evil they are? Kai knew that they all had issues, but this is just ridiculous.

Cryptor seems to consider this. “Could we do a mix of psychological and physical torture?” He asks.

Ronin glances between them. “I know that he’s an opponent, but doesn’t that seem like a little bit much to you guys?”

“I’ve got to agree with Ronin on this one.” Kai jumps in. “Killing is fine, but heavily traumatizing someone is something else altogether.” 

Morro glares at them. “He’s a **_Ninja_ **, if you don’t recall. It’s best to fuck him up to the point where he wouldn’t dare challenge us again.”

Ronin looks uncomfortable with this, but doesn’t push his argument.

Cryptor frowns. “Maybe we shouldn’t do that. Like I said before, he’s valuable. It seems like a waste to use him like that.”

“And what do you suggest?” The mastermind prompts.

“Kai’s idea seems the best. Selling him to a reliable buyer would not only benefit us monetarily, but it would also strengthen our connections.” The hacker explains.

Kai has to force himself not to tense up. Oh, so whatever happens to Zane now is going to be his fault. Wonderful.

“You have someone in mind, don’t you?” Morro arches an eyebrow.

“I’m sure Chen would love a new servant for his factories, especially one as skilled as Zane.” Cryptor smirks.

Wait… **_Chen_ **?! The guy who owns the noodle restaurant chain? He’s a crime lord?!

Huh. You learn something new everyday.

“I’ll give him a call.” Morro nods. “But back to the others. How are we going to get our hands on them?”

Kai hesitates a beat. Should he suggest something so that they don’t get suspicious? But if he does, it’ll have to be nothing that could actually help them.

Luckily, he’s saved from having to say anything by Ronin.

“We could set a trap. Make them think they’ve found out a weakness that they can exploit, but once they do, it ensures their defeat.”

“Have something in mind?” Morro questions.

“No, actually.” The thief admits. 

“Well, it is a good idea. I’ll look into it.” The mastermind decides. “You can all go back to whatever you were doing, I’m going to call Chen.”

“Should I watch Zane for a little while longer?” Kai asks. It would be good to get the opportunity to share some information with him.

Unfortunately, Morro shakes his head. “We’ve already got Cole, you don’t need to worry about him anymore.”

And what can Kai do but agree?

* * *

He walks back to his apartment, wracking his brain for anything that might help him rescue Zane. So far, he's got nothing. He can tell Cole what they’re planning, but that won’t do much to stop them. He needs some kind of leader to tell him how to handle this, but it’s not like he can go to Morro-

Wait. Morro is meant to be the opposition to Lloyd. If he can get into contact with him, then the agent can come up with a plan! And it won’t be hard to contact the guy either, Cole likely has his number.

With that plan in mind, he confidently returns to his apartment, a new spring in his step. He makes sure to lock the door behind him, and scans the area for Cole. He isn’t immediately visible, but that’s not concerning. He’s likely in another room.

But when he walks into the living room, the agent isn’t there, either. He checks the kitchen. Empty. The bathroom door is open, so he’s not in there. 

Fear starts to curl in his gut, but he does his best to push it aside. It’s fine, completely and totally fine.

He peeks inside of his room, breathing a sigh of relief when he sees Cole asleep on the bed. Unfortunately, it seems that the agent is a light sleeper, because he startles awake, reaching for a gun that he doesn’t have.

Kai quickly puts his hands up. “It’s just me.” He assures. 

Cole relaxes, but he still gets up from the bed. “How’d it go?” He asks.

“They, uh… well. They’re kind of planning to sell Zane to Chen?” The criminal admits somewhat nervously. God knows how the agent will react… 

And he tenses right back up. “What?” He demands, fear flickering across his face.

Kai winces. “Yeah, I know.” He glances off to the side, trying to avoid eye contact. “But I was hoping that maybe you could contact Lloyd so that he can come up with a plan? I’m not very good at strategizing.” It’s almost painful to admit, but it’s true. If he tries to go it alone, they’ll all be screwed.

Cole hesitates a moment before nodding. “I can do that.” He agrees. “He’ll probably yell at me for going after Zane, but Wu likely already told him that I did.”

Ah. The phone call he made before must have been to this ‘Wu’ guy. 

Just then, his phone starts ringing. Somewhat startled, Kai pulls it out of his pocket. Nya? Why would she be calling him?

Oh! The job offer!

He quickly answers. “Kai here.” He greets.

Cole makes his way around the criminal and heads into a different room, possibly to make a call to Lloyd.

“You realize that the job offer is into the CIA, right? Your friend must be an agent.” Nya begins excitedly. “And they’re asking me to help them develop gadgets to help them on missions!”

Kai grins. “Did you say yes?”

“Of course! It sounds amazing, and I can’t wait to get started! I’m cancelling the college tour, I’ll be back tomorrow.” She explains.

Oh, yeah. If she accepts the job, she won’t be going to college, and so it’s rational to just come back.

Except that Cole is here, and he has no way to explain why he’s keeping a man with gunshot wounds in the apartment.

Shit.

“Cool! I’ll see you then!” Kai forces himself to sound cheerful even as his brain screams and lights things on fire.

“Alright, just wanted to let you know! Bye!” Nya tells him.

“Bye!” The criminal replies, quickly hanging up. He heads into the living room. He needs to explain the circumstances to Cole.

But when he steps in, the agent is on a call.

“-plan. I know this is short notice and that we don’t have a lot to go on, but we can’t lose Zane. We can't. Who knows what Chen’ll do to him, and- goddamn it Lloyd, please. **_Please_ **.”

Kai just stands there awkwardly, waiting for him to get off the phone.

There’s a pause, likely while a reply is given.

“I promise we can. He’s not a bad guy, honest. Just a little misguided. Look, I know I disobeyed direct orders. I know that Zane should have been more careful. I know that this is risky. But we can’t lose him. If not for his friendship and kindness, then for his skills on the team. Lloyd, I will get down on my knees and beg. Please, just don’t give up on him.” Cole begs.

Right, so he definitely doesn’t know that Kai is there. 

There’s another pause on their end while Lloyd replies.

“I know. But he saved my life. If he was actually evil, he wouldn’t have done that. He’s not as bad as you think. We can trust him.” Cole assures.

Are- are they talking about him? It sounds like it. Kai should probably let the agent know that he’s standing there, but… he’s kind of curious about the conversation.

Goddamn it, why does he always eavesdrop on people’s phone calls?

“You think I don’t know that? I’m not saying we tell him super classified information or anything, I’m saying that we could use his help.” The agent explains. 

There’s another pause, shorter this time.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Lloyd, just trust me on this one.” 

Kai glances around the room. This is so awkward. How has Cole not noticed him? He’s one of the best spies on the planet.

“Thank you. I’ll give you more information as I get it. Catch you later.” 

And a moment later, he ends the call, putting his phone away. He starts when he sees Kai. 

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Probably a little longer than I should have. Was that Lloyd?” The criminal asks, 

Cole nods. “It took a little convincing, but he’s onboard.”

Kai’s mouth moves without his permission. It seems to be doing that a lot lately. “I have bad news.”

“What now?”

“My sister’s coming back, and I’m trying to keep this all a secret. I don’t know how to explain why I’m keeping a guy with gunshot wounds in the apartment. Any ideas?”

“I’ll go next door.” Cole decides.

“What? Jay would turn you in! He works for Pythor!” Kai stares at the agent. Surely he can’t be that stupid.

Cole winces. “Actually…”

Kai blinks. “ ‘Actually’ what?”

“He’s on my team.”

The criminal stares as the information slowly sinks in. No. No, that can’t be true. There’s no way. 

Cole picks up his phone. He calls someone and holds the phone up to his ear.

“Jay, come over to Kai’s place. We’re going to be working with him to find Zane.” 

No. No, this can’t be happening. Jay lied to him?

No, he didn’t lie. Kai just made assumptions and he went along with them. He basically gave the ginger all the tools he needed to manipulate him.

There’s a knock at the door.

His legs move on their own. Numbly, he gets up and walks over to the entrance. He pulls open the door.

And feels his heart shatter when he sees his neighbor standing there.


	10. Lies

“Kai? Can I come in?” Jay asks nervously.

The brunet nods numbly, stepping to the side. His neighbor walks into the apartment, and Kai closes the door behind him.

“He told me he killed you.” The ginger informs Cole as he sits on the couch. Kai makes his way over to them and sits on the last open cushion.

“He thought you were a co-worker.” Cole points out. “Now, down to business. Morro plans to-“

“You’re one of the Ninja.” Kai interrupts, staring at his neighbor. “I’ve been telling you about our plans. You- you manipulated me.”

Jay looks away. “Part of the job.” He explains.

Everything that’s happened clicks into place.

_ ‘“You got me there. But I don’t want you guys visiting me, it might scare him off. I’m gonna play it safe this time around.”’ _

He was worried that if they came around, it might blow his cover. He wasn’t thinking of Kai as a romantic interest.

‘Zee’ is clearly Zane, and ‘Leyton’ must be Lloyd. He stiffened when he heard Kai’s name because he was supposed to take him down. He was upset when he came over because Zane had gotten kidnapped. He was so interested in the plans about the Ninja because he wanted to be able to know their next move.

God, Kai feels like an idiot. All the signs were there, he just couldn’t read them.

Kai looks over his neighbor, his eyes scanning over the fire-colored hair and the splash of freckles. He’s adorable.

He’s a liar.

The criminal looks to Cole. He needs to stop thinking about this. It wasn’t anything personal. It was just Jay doing his job. It’s not his fault that Kai is a love-struck idiot.

“Morro plans to sell Zane to Chen.” He prompts, looking at his feet.

“ **_What_ ** ?!” Jay jumps to his feet. “What are we doing just sitting here?! We need to rescue him!”

“We don’t have enough information for a plan yet. As much as I want to go after him, trying it now would be a suicide mission.” Cole argues. “Not to mention that I can barely walk, much less fight.”

“Are you okay?!” Jay frets, looking his boyfriend over.

Right. Boyfriend. 

Kai ignores the aching in his chest. The two of them are both really fucking attractive, no wonder they’re taken. And Zane… he’s not entirely sure where the blond fits in their relationship, but it must work somehow.

“I’m fine.” Cole assures. “I’ve been shot before.”

“You can’t build up an immunity to gunshot wounds!” Jay argues. 

“He’s fine.” Kai bites the words out. “I cleaned the wounds and wrapped them, he’ll heal with time.” 

Cole nods, but Jay whips around to look at him. “You- you-“

“That’s what Zane said.” Kai comments dully. “Except he was under the impression that I killed him.”

“Wait- Zane thinks he’s dead?!” Jay stares at the criminal.

Kai winces. “Maybe?” It feels like everything just keeps getting worse and worse. Today  **_sucks_ ** . A lot.

“I- alright, we need to-“

“I’ll go talk to Ronin and see what I can find out.” Kai decides.

“What?” Cole frowns. “Why him? Wouldn’t it be better to go to Morro? He has more information.”

“Well, when Morro suggested torturing and traumatizing Zane, Ronin argued against it.” Kai explains. “Besides, he would be able to read my true intentions is a heartbeat.”

“Sorry, Morro suggested  **_what_ ** ?” Jay demands. “He wanted to  **_torture_ ** Zane?!”

“Ronin and I managed to convince him not to. Even Cryptor sided with us on that one.” The brunet reassures. 

“We need to get him out of there  **_now_ ** .” Cole grits his teeth.

“I’ll go find Ronin.” Kai gets to his feet. “See you guys later.” 

He ignores the goodbyes they send his way and heads out the door. 

He makes his way back to the base, silently yelling at himself. Of course Jay was manipulating him. Who would ever care about him? He’s a murderer, a monster. Even here, the only reason Cole is showing him the slightest bit of kindness is because he needs Kai’s help.

But it’s nice to pretend. It’s addicting, the giddiness that accompanies the thought of someone loving him. Sure, he has Nya, but if she knew who he was, she’d run for the hills- and for good reason.

He forces the thoughts out of his head. If he keeps this up, he’ll start crying, and then Ronin will know something’s up.

Taking a deep breath, he walks back into the base. He looks around, hoping to spot the thief. Unfortunately, he’s nowhere in sight. He  **_does_ ** see a bunch of people staring at him in awe, but that doesn’t really help.

He walks further in, continuing his search. He spends a good fifteen minutes poking around, when a hand is suddenly set on his shoulder. He flinches, spinning around to face the owner of said hand.

Cryptor narrows his eyes. “Looking for something?”

“Uh, yeah. Is- is Ronin around?” Okay, this is fine. He just needs to do his best to not be suspicious. He pulled it off earlier at the meeting, so it should be fine.

And he probably just jinxed it. Great.

“Why do you need to see him?”

**_Fuck_ ** .

“Just wanted to chat. Thought it’d be a good idea to get to know him better- you guys are pretty infamous, but I’ve never heard of him.” Kai lies smoothly.

How the fuck did he just do that?

Cryptor nods. “He’s not here right now, but I’ll give you his number.” 

Kai pulls out his burner and types in the digits as the hacker recites them. 

Afterwards, he gives Cryptor a nod, and he walks away.

Kai’s impressed with himself. Did he really just do that? 

He sends Ronin a quick message.

_ ‘hey its kai’ _

He starts to walk back to his apartment, but the reply comes faster than he was expecting.

_ ‘And? You need something?’ _

He hesitates a moment. How should he go about this? He needs a plan, some way to get information out of him without being obvious.

_ ‘its not exactly easy to make friends in this line of business’ _

There. Maybe he can get the thief to go out to a bar with him, get him to drink until he’s lost a little bit of his composure, and then find out what he needs to know.

_ ‘No, it’s not. Do you have a point somewhere around here?’ _

Yikes. Someone isn’t up for idle chatter, then.

_ ‘yeah do u want to go get drinks w/ me’ _

There’s a pause, longer this time. Kai’s almost at his apartment at this point, and he’s just reached the door when the reply comes in.

_ ‘Sure, why not. Do you have a place in mind?’ _

Uh, no. No he does not. He honestly wasn’t sure if he’d make it this far. 

_ ‘actually no i thought u might be more comfortable if u picked the place’ _

There’s a pause, and Kai unlocks the door, stepping inside. Cole and Jay are still on the couch, and he walks over to them, sitting in the free seat. “I think I might be able to get Ronin to go hit a bar with me.” He tells them.

Cole nods. “A bar is a good choice.” He agrees. “Easier to get him to talk, while also making it unlikely that you’ll be overheard.”

“Oh. I didn’t even think of the second one.” Kai admits.

_ ‘Yang Tavern, see you in thirty.’ _

“Alright, we’re going to Yang Tavern. Can’t say I’ve been there before.” The brunet admits, sending a quick reply.

_ ‘see u there’ _

“Yang Tavern? Yep, sounds like the kind of place Ronin would go.” Cole nods, looking to Jay. The ginger makes a face.

“Try not to get into any fights, and avoid the Slither Pit.” His neighbor recommends. “There might be times you want to intervene, but don’t do it. It’s how they have their fun.”

Kai looks up the location on Google Maps. Hmm, looks like it’s about twenty-five minutes from here. He should probably get going. 

“Alright, I’ll see you guys later.” He nods, getting to his feet. 

“I’ll be gone when you get back.” Cole informs him, turning back to Jay. “I’m allowed to crash at your place, right?”

“Uh, duh?” The ginger laughs, and Kai hates how that smile sends giddiness rushing through him. Who gave him the right to be so cute?

And so with that, he heads back out the door.

* * *

He reaches the bar a little later than he was expecting- a little bit after thirty minutes- but he’s not exactly late. He walks inside, and blinks as he takes in the surroundings.

The main feature is a large ring in the center, where people are gathered around, cheering. He’s not entirely sure what’s going on, but most of the people seem happy, so that’s a good sign. There’s a few groans every now and again, and shouts of encouragement. He manages to get a peek in, and realizes that there are two people attempting to beat the shit out of each other.

That must be the Slither Pit that Jay mentioned. Well, he should probably stay away from it, then.

There is a bar in the back, so he makes his way over there. That’s most likely where Ronin will be, anyway.

And sure enough, the thief is sitting there with a drink, an open seat beside him. Kai sits down, and the man looks over at him. 

“You’re late.”

“I’ve never been here before, took me a little while to find it.” The brunet explains.

Ronin seems to accept this answer, and Kai orders a drink. They sit there in silence for a few moments as the brunet tries to think up a conversation topic.

“So what’s the real reason you brought me here?” The thief asks.

Kai’s heart threatens to pound out of his chest as it beats with the force of a thousand drums. “What are you talking about?” Somehow, he keeps his voice steady.

“I’m not stupid.” Ronin gives him a rough look. “What’s the real reason?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The brunet lies. Despite his fear, he forces himself to keep eye contact with his teammate, steady and unwavering. 

“Don’t waste my time, Rookie.” The thief glares.

Okay, cool, time to bullshit some kind of excuse. He gave one to Cryptor, didn’t he? He can use the same one here.

“I’ve heard of Morro and Cryptor, but I don’t know the first thing about you.” Kai narrows his eyes. “So sue me for wanting to know if I can trust my teammate.”

Ronin pauses at this, somewhat startled expression on his face. The bartender chooses that exact moment to pass Kai his drink, and the brunet gives a nod of thanks as he takes it, before turning back to the thief.

“You don’t need to worry about me, Rookie.” Ronin assures him. “It’s Morro I’d keep an eye on.”

Kai arches an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

“I wouldn’t be on this team if I had any other choice. But saying no to someone like Pythor is suicide.” The thief glances off to the side. “Morro is smart, I’ll give him that. But he’s not the kind of guy you want to be working with.”

There’s got to be some kind of story there. Maybe if Kai keeps up this line of conversation, he can find a way to bring it to Zane and where he’s being kept. After all, both are related to work.

“You speaking from experience?” The brunet prompts.

“I’ve dealt with him in the past.” Ronin admits, taking a sip of his drink. “He looks after his own best interests, even when it sabotages the team.”

There’s a particularly loud cheer of the crowd, and the two of them turn to face the Slither Pit. One man, heavily bruised and bloodied, is dragged away from the ring. Kai has to fight back a wince at the sight. It looks beyond painful, and being dragged against the floor will likely just aggravate the injuries.

“Any other challengers?” An announcer calls.

Ronin glances over at Kai, and the brunet quickly shakes his head. He’s good at fighting, sure, but he doesn’t want to just have a brawl for people’s entertainment.

Someone new volunteers and climbs into the ring, and the cheers begin anew. 

Kai turns back to the thief, a plan starting to form. He doesn’t trust Morro- that could be a tool he can use to get information on Zane!

“We can still trust him though, right?” The brunet makes sure to sound concerned and somewhat bothered.

Ronin sighs. “That’s a good question.”

“Hmm. Cryptor mentioned that Zane is valuable. Sure, it would benefit the team to hand him over to Chen, but if Morro is looking after his own best interests…” He trails off.

The thief frowns, a wary expression crossing his face. “You make a good point.” He admits. “But snooping around could make him suspicious.”

“Well, all we have to do is check where Zane is being held. If he’s with Chen, no problem. If he’s not…” Kai trails off once more. 

Ronin pauses. “All we have to do is check the factory.” He agrees. “But there is a chance that Chen’s keeping him elsewhere.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, the factory. I don’t know where it is, but if you take me there, I can scope it out.” How is this working? Ronin seriously hasn’t picked up on his plan? 

The thief nods. “I’ll show you later. If we just walk out now, it could draw some suspicion.” 

Kai nods, taking a sip of his drink. “Anything else I should know?”

“We can’t risk Cryptor finding out about this, he’ll bring it straight to Morro. I’ve got a few contacts that won’t rat us out, I can try to get into touch with them- but only if absolutely necessary. The more people who know, the higher chance we have of getting caught.” Ronin glances around.

“Should we worry about someone overhearing us?” The brunet looks around himself, scanning for threats. He spots quite a few people who look like they could put up a fight, but nothing he can’t handle.

The thief snorts. “People around here know to mind their own damn business, kid.”

“I’m not a kid.” Kai protests.

Ronin doesn’t reply, he just takes another drink from his glass.

They sit there in silence for a few minutes. Another guy is dragged from the Slither Pit, and Kai studies his injuries. All blunt force- most likely fists -but judging from the swelling and redness, they were hit hard enough to cause internal bleeding. Yikes.

“You could wipe the floor with them.” Ronin comments.

“I could.” The brunet agrees, looking over the potential opponents. “But I don’t want to.”

“And why is that?” The thief looks intrigued.

“I don’t fight for people’s entertainment.” Kai looks away from the Slither Pit and goes back to his drink. 

“Then what do you fight for?” Ronin questions.

And like an idiot, Kai answers truthfully. “My sister.”

Why is he like this? He decided as soon as he went into this business that he wouldn’t mention her! It only puts her at risk! Why did he just answer that?! God, he’s so  **_stupid_ ** .

The thief looks surprised by this. “You might be one of the only guys in this line of work with a good cause.”

“What’s yours?” Kai questions. 

“I’d rather not talk about it.” Ronin looks away.

They spend a good fifteen minutes in silence. A few more people are dragged from the Slither Pit, and Kai finishes his drink.

“I’ll see you later, Kai.” The thief nods, getting up. He pays for his drink, and the brunet moves to do the same, but Ronin shakes his head. “I got it.” He assures, putting more money on the counter.

Unsure of what to say, Kai just nods, and watches as the thief makes his way out of the bar.

A smile works its way across his face. Finally, some good luck.

Which will probably be ruined any minute now, but still. At least he has it for now, right?


	11. Source?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, had writers block on this

He waits a few minutes after Ronin leaves before doing the same, making his way back to his apartment. When he gets there, Cole and Jay are gone, just like they said they’d be.

With a sigh, Kai heads inside. It’s starting to get late, but he’s not really tired. His sleep schedule is pretty much dead at this point.

He pulls out his phone, and sends Jay a quick text.

_ ‘hey can i have ur burner #’ _

He waits a moment, but there’s no reply. After a pause, he decides to go make dinner. He keeps forgetting to eat, he needs to remember to do that. 

He checks the pantry, but after a few minutes of looking around, he realizes that he’s not going to eat anything that requires more than a few moments of effort. Looks like he’s having cereal, then.

He’s just sat down with his food when his phone dings. He opens the text, and it’s a reply from Jay. There’s no text, only a number. Kai quickly puts said number into his burner. He then double checks that it’s his neighbor.

_ ‘this is jay right’ _

He starts to eat his cereal, and watches as the reply comes in.

_ ‘Yep’ _

And Kai leaves it at that, continuing his dinner. But to his surprise, a message from the same phone- but a different number- dings in a few seconds later.

_ ‘Its Cole’ _

Kai blinks. Well, he wasn’t expecting both, but he’s not complaining. 

_ ‘k’ _

There, that’s not too awkward, right? 

Right?

There’s no reply, so he goes back to his cereal. He eats it mindlessly, deep in thought. He can get the information from Ronin, but it might be somewhat difficult to get it to Lloyd. 

But there’s not a lot he can do right now. The lack of action is making him anxious, but there’s nothing to do but wait.

Sighing, he opens Instagram. Might as well look at memes while he waits for something to happen.

He kills a few hours on his phone, before he finally feels tired enough to go to bed. He goes through his nighttime routine and crawls into bed.

Life is so complicated.

* * *

He wakes up to his burner ringing. Ugh, again? Why do people keep calling him?

He picks it up, fighting back a groan. “Kai here, what’s up?”

“It’s Ronin.” Then it goes blank. Did- did the thief just hang up on him? What is the purpose of calling him and then hanging up?

Groaning, Kai gets out of bed. But once he reaches the living room, he hears a knock on the door. Carefully, he walks over and looks through the peephole.

Yep, it’s Ronin.

He pulls out his burner and sends Jay a quick message.

_ ‘hey ronins here dont come outside or reply’ _

He quickly puts it away and opens the door. “You could’ve just sent a message.” He comments. “What brings you here?”

“Inside first.” The thief demands, and Kai steps out of the way, letting him in. He locks the door behind them, then turns to face him.

“Alright. What brings you here?” He repeats, though he already has an idea of what he’s come to talk about.

“We don’t have to worry. My source says that Zane’s with Chen.” Ronin smiles.

No, no, no! He can’t have confirmed it like that! How is Kai supposed to save Zane now? He needs to come up with some excuse, some reason why he needs to verify it himself.

“Can we trust this…  **_source_ ** … of yours?”

There, just put suspicion on them and claim he doesn’t trust the source so he needs to go check it out alone. Perfect!

“We can. She’s on the inside, and I know she wouldn’t lie about something like this. Well, not to  **_me_ ** , anyway.” The thief explains.

“Can I check out this source?” Alright, time to put all the pressure on  **_her_ ** . If he can figure out who she is, he can do…  **_something_ ** ? He guesses? Maybe?   
  


Well, he can just take the information to Lloyd and let him figure out what to do. That sounds like a better plan. 

Ronin scoffs. “Really? I’m not stupid enough to give out names. Rule number one in this business is to not ask questions.”

“Is that not what we’re doing? Questioning Morro?” Kai arches an eyebrow. Please buy it, he just needs a  **_name_ ** -

“Yeah,  **_him_ ** , not me.” The thief reminds with a roll of his good eye. “Trust me on this. Morro actually did what he was supposed to- for once.”

No! He needs to figure out how to get to Zane! Ronin needs to stop being smart and let Kai manipulate him!

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to check it out myself.” Alright, just keep up with the plan. All he needs is to get a name, a location,  **_something_ ** that’ll help him find the blond. 

“Y’know, if you were anyone else, I’d say that you were trying to work  **_with_ ** the agents.” Ronin comments lowly.

Shit.  **_Fuck_ ** . Oh, oh no, what the  **_fuck_ ** does he do now?! Did he figure it out? Well, he said,  _ ‘... if you were anyone else…’ _ , so that’s a good sign, but it doesn’t completely answer his question. Has his cover been blown?

Kai forces a laugh. “Really? You think  **_I’m_ ** a double agent?  **_Me_ ** ? I killed Agent Garmadon- the Ninja wouldn’t let me anywhere near them, even if I  **_hadn’t_ ** killed Cole.” Buy his bullshit, please just fucking buy it- 

“Then why do you need so much confirmation? My word isn’t good enough?” The thief narrows his good eye in suspicion.

“Remember how I told you the reason I brought you to the bar was to make sure I could actually trust you? Never really got an answer.” The brunet shoots back. God damn it Ronin, just give him some information that he can use!

“Teaming up isn’t good enough for you?” The eyepatched man doesn’t back down, a scowl crossing his face.

This is  **_not_ ** going well. Why is this so  **_difficult_ ** ?! “We’re teaming up with Morro, too. Do you trust  **_him_ ** ?” Kai reminds with a glare of his own.

Ronin hesitates a moment, a frown crossing his face. A few more seconds pass before he finally gives in with a sigh. “Her name is Skylor. Don’t tell her I told you.”

The brunet nods his confirmation. Holy shit, did he really just pull that off?!  **_How_ ** ?! How does he keep doing this? He’s amazing! Good work, him!

“I’ll see you later, Rookie.” And with that, the thief turns around and walks out, closing the door behind him.

Kai hesitates for a full thirty seconds before pulling out his burner and messaging his neighbor, a grin crossing his face as he does.

_ ‘ronin left i got some info hes kinda suspicious of me now tho’ _

He waits anxiously for a reply. He needs to share what he found out with Lloyd so that he can come up with a plan, and the best way to do that is to go through Jay.

_ ‘Cool! What’d ya get??’ _

A smile flickers across Kai’s face. Jay’s excited texting style seems to match his excitable personality.

_ ‘theres a girl on the inside whos name is skylor she knows where zane is’ _

After a brief pause, he adds another message.

_ ‘idk how to contact her but i think i can figure it out’ _

He stares at the phone, waiting for a reply. When he doesn’t get one immediately, he walks over to his couch and sits down. When he looks back at the burner, a message is there.

_ ‘Skylor?? No we’ve worked with her b4, she can’t be a contact for Chen’ _

Kai frowns. If they’ve worked with her, and Ronin says that she works for the noodle crime lord, then they’ve got a problem.

_ ‘look im just telling u what ronin told me’ _

There’s a pause- a long pause. He keeps glancing at the time as the minutes slowly tick by. Fear starts curling in his gut as his heart rate picks up. Is he okay? What happened? Being a spy is a dangerous occupation, and-

_ ‘Come over’ _

Kai blinks. Uh. Okay? He can- he can do that. He’s not sure why they can’t just message, but if Jay says he should, then, well, he probably should.

So he gets up from his couch and makes his way to his neighbor’s apartment, knocking on the door. It immediately opens, and the ginger on the other side looks somewhat anxious. 

He steps out of the way, letting Kai pass him. As soon as he’s inside, Jay closes and locks the door. “Right. So, uh, don’t know how to tell you this, but, um, Lloyd’s here.”

Is that part of why he’s upset? Kai’s met the blond before, and nothing major happened. Is something different this time?

“Last- last time you were here, he, uh, well, he didn’t know that you killed his dad.” His neighbor explains, glancing off to the side nervously. 

Oh.  **_Oh_ ** . Yeah, that kinda makes a little bit of difference. Shit.

This is gonna be fun… 

So Jay leads him over to the couch, where Cole and Lloyd are sitting, quietly chatting. The room immediately goes quiet the second he walks in. 

Lloyd stares at him, an angry, cold look in his eyes. Kai swallows. This isn’t a good person to have mad at him… 

“I got some info?” The brunet offers weakly. God, this isn’t going to end well. He glances over at the agent he had injured, silently going over all the reasons Lloyd has to hate him.

The blond doesn’t answer, he just continues to glare, the majority of his face an expressionless mask- all but his eyes. But those eyes speak volumes, and Kai bites his lip. Here’s to hoping he doesn’t get murdered.

“I don’t want to work with you. In all honesty, I’d like to see you locked up in Kryptarium Prison until hell freezes over. But unfortunately, you’re the only one with the means to rescue Zane. So we’re going to have to get along.” The mastermind informs him. “Try anything and you won’t live long enough to regret it. Got it?”

Kai nods shakily. This is quite the situation he’s gotten himself into. “Got it.” He agrees.

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other.” That cold smile he receives with the statement doesn’t express the slightest bit of happiness- instead, it shows murderous intent.

Well. Here’s to hoping he can rescue Zane- and find some way to keep Lloyd from murdering him once he does.


	12. And It Was In That Moment Kai Knew: He Fucked Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, there are a lot of timeskips. It was either that or a really short chapter.

Cole clears his throat, shattering the tense silence that followed Lloyd’s statement. “Well. If we’ve got that cleared up, could we focus on rescuing Zane?”

The mastermind nods slowly, and Kai takes that as his cue to share what he’s learned. “Ronin has a contact named Skylor. She knows where Zane is. We find her, we find him.”

Lloyd blinks in surprise, exchanging a glance with Cole. “Skylor? Are you sure?” He questions, his confusion momentarily outweighing his anger. Thank  **_god_ ** . He really doesn’t want the blond mad at him. Well, he likely still is, he’s just distracted at the moment.

“Maybe he was talking about a different Skylor?” Kai offers. “But that’s definitely what he said.” They keep saying that they know her, but if that’s the case, it’s possible that she might be some kind of double agent.

Lloyd narrows his eyes. “We need to find some way to figure out her loyalties without making her suspicious of why.”

The noirette beside him opens his mouth to say something, but the mastermind talks over him, sounding exasperated. “Cole, no.”

“You didn’t even know what I was going to say!” The injured agent protests, crossing his arms. Is he- is he  **_pouting_ ** ? 

“You’re hurt, there’s no way I’m letting you go into the field. Though my lack of permission didn’t seem to stop you last time. Speaking of which, don’t think you’re off the hook for that.” Lloyd glares.

“Off the hook for what?” Kai questions with a frown. It’s somewhat implied that he broke direct orders, but what did he do?

“Cole here decided to disobey direct orders and go after Zane when **_I_** **_specifically told him not to_**.” The blond explains with a tight smile. Yikes. Looks like Kai isn’t the only one he’s annoyed with.

Although something makes him doubt he’s plotting ways to kill Cole the same way he’s plotting against the brunet.

“And I would do it again.” The injured agent stares Lloyd down. “You wanted me to just leave him there with Morro!”

“You could’ve  **_died_ ** , Cole! Kai nearly killed you!” Jay puts in. “I want Zane back just as much as you do, but what would we do if we lost you, too?!”

Kai glances around the room awkwardly.

“But he didn’t, and I’m fine!” The noirette snaps back, clearly determined to win the argument. 

“That-  **_no_ ** ! You can’t rely on luck like that!” Jay yells. “If things were the slightest bit different-“

“But they aren’t!” Cole argues. “I get that you’re upset, okay?! But I  **_refuse_ ** to let god knows what happen to our boyfriend!”

The ginger opens his mouth, but then pauses. After a moment, he sighs, a pained expression crossing his face. “I don’t want to lose either of you.” He mumbles.

The injured agent softens. “I know. I- I just want Zane back.”

“And we’ll get him back.” Lloyd interjects. “The first step to doing so is investigating Skylor, remember?”

The other two agents nod. “What's our plan?” Jay prompts. 

The blond sighs, turning his focus back to Kai. “How do you feel about doing some recon?”

* * *

Okay. He’s got a plan. Or more accurately, Lloyd’s got a plan and he’s forcing Kai to go through with it. 

As it turns out, Skylor is the girl with bright red hair he met at Chen’s Noodle House the other day. Lloyd- with Jay’s help- found out a piece of her schedule so that Kai can ‘accidentally’ run into her and start a conversation. Eventually, he should direct said conversation to work, and ask her how she knows the team. From there, he’s supposed to casually mention Zane and how he’s not sure if he can trust the information Ronin gave him, hopefully prompting her to give him what he needs.

Lloyd made it sound so easy. But Kai knows that this is going to be difficult, if not impossible. 

So here he is, casually walking around Ninjago Park, waiting for the moment where he finds Skylor wandering around.

Why is she even in the park, anyway? Is there a reason she’s here, or does she just like to hang out around nature?

“Hey, Kai.” 

The brunet blinks, jolted back to the real world when he sees the crimson-haired girl in front of him. When did she get here? How’d she get so close without him noticing?   
  


“A little birdie told me you wanted to talk.” She smiles.

**_What_ ** . Okay, this was not part of the plan. At all. What does he do now? If he tries to maneuver the conversation like Lloyd said he should, she’ll definitely catch on. 

What does he do now? 

“I, uh, yeah.” Kai nods, despite having absolutely no idea what the everloving  **_fuck_ ** he should say or do. 

Skylor glances off to the side. “It’d be better if we spoke in private.” She decides.

The brunet nods. “Y- yeah.” He agrees. “Privacy sounds good.” His internal screaming is so loud he’s surprised she can’t hear it. But this is fine.  **_It’s fine_ ** . He just has to bluff his way out of this mess, is all.

But he’s never been all that good at communication. If he’s being honest, everything he’s done so far has been sheer luck.

So he follows her out of the park, out into a shady looking area of the city. Every step he takes sets him more and more on edge. Though he can’t quite place what it is, something is definitely wrong here.

Finally, she turns to face him. “I want to apologize in advance, but there were only so many ways this could go down.”

“What?” He frowns. Apologize? What for? And what does she mean,  _ ‘...go down…’ _ , that doesn’t-

His eyes widen.

**_It’s a trap._ **

Skylor smiles. “Ronin figured you out, took it straight to Morro. And, well, you’ve already fulfilled your purpose on the team.”

Before he has a chance to do anything, say anything, attack her, he feels a pinprick in the back of his neck, and a dizzy feeling sweeps over him.

As the darkness closes in, he has time for one final thought:

**_Fuck_ ** .

* * *

He wakes up on a concrete floor, propped up against a wall, his hands in metal cuffs.

Kai feels his breathing pick up. Oh, god. What kind of mess has he gotten himself into now? Is there a way out? Where is he? Is Nya still safe? What’s going to happen to him?

He scrambles to his feet, scanning his surroundings. He’s in some kind of cell, with concrete walls and a door with a barred window.

Cautiously, he makes his way over to the window, peering out of it. But all he sees is a long corridor with several similar looking doors, most likely leading into rooms like the one he’s in now.

For a moment, he debates calling out  _ ‘Hello?’ _ in an attempt to get someone’s attention. But he quickly dismisses the idea. He’s impulsive, not stupid.

It’s then that he notices the guard right outside the door. Luckily, they haven’t seemed to have noticed that he’s awake, so maybe-

The guy turns and looks directly into his eyes.

**_Fuck_ ** .

Kai backs away from the door, but to his surprise, he hears footsteps heading  **_away_ ** , as though the guard just up and left.

Well, that’s weird. But he finds his thoughts quickly drifting away from it, more focused on his previous actions. 

**_God_ ** , he feels stupid. Of course Ronin figured him out! He wasn’t exactly subtle about it, and the thief has much more experience in that kind of thing. 

Multiple sets of footsteps come back down the hall, and Kai blinks in surprise as the door to the cell is opened. He’s about to try to make a run for it when he sees that they have eight guards, all armed. And not only does Kai not have a weapon, but he’s also in handcuffs. 

Looks like he doesn’t have a say in whatever the hell is going to happen to him.

So he lets himself be escorted down the halls, glancing between the guys guarding him. For once, he’d have liked for his abilities to be underestimated. 

He notes that they’re all dressed like they’re part of some kind of creepy cult. That’s…  **_odd_ ** , but definitely not his biggest concern.

After what feels like forever, they finally reach wherever their destination is.

It’s an arena. There are more weird cult people gathered around, and Kai’s eyes widen when he notices Chen himself sitting in what looks almost like a throne above it.

What the actual hell is going on here?

His handcuffs are removed, and he’s roughly shoved into the arena. If he’s being honest, it actually looks almost like it’s set up for comba-

Oh. 

Oh,  **_shit_ ** .

Nope, he is  **_not_ ** going to fight for some weird cult’s entertainment.  **_Nope_ ** . Vetoed. Overruled. He’ll have no part in this whatsoever.

“Ah, Kai Smith! I look forward to how well you’ll fare in my tournament!” Chen laughs loudly from his chair. There’s an awkward silence, and he glares at all the cultists. “ **_Laugh_ ** !” He yells at them.

And they do.

What the fuck is going on here? A tournament? They can’t seriously expect him to take part in this bullshit.

* * *

He’s roughly shoved back in the cell. The opponent he was up against- Ash, he thinks his name was?- was more difficult than he was expecting. He trashed him pretty easily in the beginning, and then he realized that they were expecting him to kill him.

He refused.

That went about as well as you’d expect. And Ash wound up dead anyway. But hey, at least it wasn’t his fault.

Well, it’s kind of his fault. He’s the one who beat him in the fight, and that’s the reason that they killed him.

Another life lost at his hands.  **_His fault_ ** . What kind of monster is he? Look at the mess he’s created. What has he done? 

He looks down at his cuffs. In all likelihood, Ash was just as trapped as him, just fighting to survive.

And Kai took that from him.

The brunet curls up in the corner of the cell. When the tears come, he doesn’t even try to fight them.

**_What has he done_ ** ?


	13. A Stupid Idea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long pause in updates, I've been working on a new AU

It becomes a cycle. Everyday, he’s dragged out of his little cell and forced to fight. Everyday, there’s someone who isn’t as strong as him.

Everyday, another life is lost.

The pain he feels when he realizes he can’t remember all of their names strikes him right in the chest. He heard the names, he knows he did, but somehow, he can’t remember them.

It hurts. A lot. He’s a monster. Even when he was outright  **_told_ ** their names, he can’t remember them.

He’s lost track of time. He probably should’ve started counting when he first got here, but he didn’t, and now he has no way of telling how many days have gone by. 

Nya’s likely back home by now. Did Jay cover for him, or rat him out? Hopefully the former, though he can’t imagine how the ginger would’ve pulled that off.

Lloyd’s probably pissed. Or maybe he’s happy that Kai’s going through hell.

Nah, he’s probably angry. He did explain that the brunet was their best way to rescue Zane.

Wait- Zane! Morro sold Zane to Chen! He’s likely somewhere nearby. If Kai can find some way to get out of here, he’ll be able to snag the blond on his way out!

Oh, who is he kidding? Find some way to get out? It’s almost laughable. He’s trapped here, well and truly. There’s nothing he can do.

But that won’t stop him from trying.

He’s made one escape attempt so far. It ended with broken bones, blood, and another tournament battle. He barely made it out of that one alive. 

His cell door is opened. Kai frowns. They already did a round of the tournament today- it ended about fifteen minutes ago. Why are they getting him again?

But he doesn’t protest as he’s led down the halls. Fighting back will only make his situation worse. They walk for quite a while, and eventually, he’s brought into a large cavern.

… what is this place?

There’s a bunch of carved stone snakes, and even snake-like patterns on the floor.  **_Apparently_ ** this is a snake cult.

But what catches his attention most is Chen’s throne, where the crime lord is located. Kai warily glances around, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Is he going to be sacrificed to some kind of snake god?

He’s shoved onto his knees, made to kneel before the throne. Does he have to join the cult and worship Chen now? Because that sounds like a living nightmare.

“Kai, Kai, Kai. You’ve made a  **_really_ ** big mess. Which I can assure you was a  **_bad idea_ ** .” The crime lord laughs. “But because I’m so nice- I’m going to give you an opportunity.”

The brunet arches an eyebrow. “Uh. Okay?” He warily agrees. Not like he has a choice. But there’s something about this that sends a chill through him. Something is wrong here… and honestly, it’s probably related to the snakes. What is up with all the snakes?

“You’re going to work for me and help me take down Lloyd Garmadon.” Chen explains cheerfully.

Kai blinks. “Sorry, I’m gonna what?”

“You heard me, right? Right?  **_Oh_ ** , one of you bring him closer!” The crime lord snaps. The guards are quick to comply, dragging the brunet forward across the floor- which aggravates his injuries.

“No, I, uh, I heard you. I just don’t think I can- I’m not gonna be very helpful to you. Lloyd- he, he hates my guts.” Kai explains, fighting back a grimace at the way his body is aching. Can he go back to his cell now?

“And that’s exactly what I’m counting on!” Chen proclaims with a smile. “Clouse will fill you in on the plan later, for now do we have a  **_deal_ ** ?”

The brunet is about to tell the crime lord that he can go fuck himself when he suddenly realizes something. If Chen thinks he can trust Kai, he’ll let his guard down, which will give him a chance to grab Zane and get out.

“We have a deal.” He confirms.

* * *

Well, there’s at least one good thing about this: Chen’s not making him participate in the tournament anymore. Well, that and he doesn’t have to wear cuffs- though he  **_is_ ** surrounded by armed cultists at all times. 

If he can find some way to ditch them, then maybe he’ll be able to start looking for Zane! But sadly, they aren’t very ditchable, and Kai knows any attempt he makes would fail, and end with Chen trusting him less. So he needs to come up with something else.

He’s moved from his cell to a nice room, but he’s well aware that he’s just as much of a prisoner here as he was in the cage.

Luckily, the guards don’t follow him into said room, so he spends most of his time there, just  **_waiting_ ** for something to happen. Seriously, whatever comes next  **_has_ ** to be better than doing nothing.

Days pass without word from the crime lord. It’s setting him on edge. What is he plotting? Does Lloyd know that he’s in danger? What’s going to happen next?

If he hasn’t made it obvious enough yet, he’s really, really,  **_really_ ** impatient.

But hey, at least he’s not being forced to kill people anymore. 

One day, god knows how long after he arrived there, while he’s laying on the bed and counting the wooden boards in the ceiling for the upteenth time, there’s a knock on the door.

He jumps to his feet and makes his way over.  **_Finally_ ** . 

Opening the door, he gives a respectful nod to the man on the other side. The guy has slicked back black hair and an odd looking mustache that Kai  **_really_ ** wants to insult.

“Master sent me to speak with you.” The man informs him in a horrible voice. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with his voice?

“Master- do you mean Chen?” Kai frowns, choosing not to comment on either of the odd features. He can be respectful if the situation requires it- he’s learned first-hand that there are some people that you just don’t mess with.

“ **_Master_ ** Chen.” The man corrects with a sharp glare. 

The brunet nods slowly. “Right. Master Chen.” He agrees, hating the taste of the words in his mouth. Master? God, is he really going to have to call him that? “And, uh, who are you?”

“Clouse.” The man explains. Ah, the crime lord had said that this guy would explain the plan to him! Which in all honesty is probably a bad thing, but at the moment, he can’t bring himself to care. 

Kai forces a pleasant smile. “Master Chen mentioned you. He said you’d be the one to explain the plan.” And yep, he’s hating the  _ ‘Master’ _ thing already.

“Yes. Follow me.” Clouse instructs, turning around. The brunet quickly follows, but he blinks in surprise when he realizes that the guards are gone. Is this guy really confident in his abilities to fight, or is there something else going on?

It’s most likely the latter- they know what he’s capable of.

So he lets himself be led through the palace- and yeah, it’s a  **_palace_ ** . A little excessive, if you ask him. Anyway, he’s led through the palace. For a while, it’s pretty uneventful.

And then they walk into a series of underground caverns lined with cells like the one he was trapped in. This- this is not going to end well.

Clouse takes him to a specific cell and unlocks it. When he opens the door, Kai feels a rush of panic when he recognizes who’s inside.

Zane.

The agent is chained against the wall, head hanging down, but he looks up when the two of them enter. He seems dazed, injured and downright  **_exhausted_ ** . What have they been doing to him?   
  


“Kai.” The blond glares, his voice dripping with venom. “It’s a pleasure.” But the brunet barely registers the words, too busy examining the speaker of them. Seriously, he looks like  **_shit_ ** . 

“Master has a new purpose for you.” Clouse informs the agent, walking over and unlocking the chains. Kai just stands there awkwardly, trying to figure out what’s going on. 

The noirette steps back and then looks to the younger criminal, clearly expectant. It takes him a second, but then he realizes that Clouse is expecting him to either carry or drag Zane with them.

Kai slings the agent over his shoulder. “Alright, where to now?” He speaks calmly, fighting the panic that’s slowly rising inside him. He needs to find some way to get Zane out of here- and sooner rather than later.

Clouse just glares at him before walking back out and through the halls. The brunet quickly follows, internally complaining about how no one in this line of work ever wants to actually talk. 

Chen’s second in command leads him through several tunnels and through a large room. For a moment, Kai doesn’t notice anything peculiar. 

When he notices them, he stops dead in his tracks.

So this is where the human trafficking victims were taken.

_ ‘ “I’m sure Chen would love a new servant for his factories, especially one as skilled as Zane.” ‘ _

A  **_new_ ** servant, signalling that he has more. And  _ ‘factories’ _ implies that there’s dozens, if not hundreds of them.

Clouse notices his pause and turns to look at him. “Is something wrong?” He drawls, an eyebrow cocking up.

Kai swallows. “Of- of course not.” He lies. The agent on his shoulder squirms, but the brunet ignores him. “Let’s, uh, let’s keep moving.” 

So they continue onwards, until they reach the weird snake chamber from before. Huh. Looks like they took a roundabout route to-

Hold on. Did they walk past that room on purpose? Was Clouse trying to gauge his reaction? If he was, Kai  **_definitely_ ** failed whatever kind of test it was.

Shit.

He’s barely paying attention to what he’s doing as he follows Clouse’s instructions, chaining Zane up on the stairs at the entrance of the room. This is quite the mess he’s gotten himself into… but there’s no point worrying about how it happened now. Now, he just needs to figure out how to get out of it.

Once he’s clicked the final piece in place, he turns to the crime lord’s second in command, silently dreading whatever is coming next. “Okay. What now?” Better to just get it over with. 

Chen sits on the throne in the center of the room, and he laughs excitedly. “Now we call the Ninja! One of you get me a camera!” The last part is barked at some of the cultists who quickly run off to do his bidding.

Kai freezes. “Now we do  **_what_ ** ?” 

Clouse turns to him. “Master wants you to inflict pain onto this agent until his allies cave and surrender.” He explains.

The brunet stands there, frozen. He hardly pays attention to the world around him as time continues it’s steady pace. Watching the world pass by him numbly, he sees a camera be set up and feels a gun pressed into his hands.

What does he do now? He can’t hurt Zane at all, much less in front of the Ninja! Not only does it go against his morals, but they currently have Nya. One wrong move could get her killed.

This is quite the mess he’s gotten himself into. But all he does is stand there as Clouse backs away and the camera is turned on. He faintly hears Chen starting to monologue about how he’s going to force them to surrender, but he’s hardly listening. What can he do to get out of this?

Slowly, an idea starts to dawn on him. It’s stupid- **_really_** stupid. But it’s his best chance.

He tunes into the speech that the crime lord is giving.

“- and if you don’t comply…” Chen trails off, looking to Kai. The brunet doubles checks that the pistol he was handed is loaded and flips off the safety. He’s only going to get one shot at this, so he better make it count.

Everyone’s staring at him, and he suddenly realizes that the crime lord was implying it was time to injure the agent. Slowly, he points his gun at Zane.

And then he pulls the trigger.


	14. A Ninja Never Quits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is really short but I couldn't resist the ending...

Right before he shoots, he adjusts the position of the barrel ever so slightly, just enough so that instead of hitting Zane… 

The bullet hits the lock that keeps the chains held in place.

Without a moment of hesitation, he grabs the blond from his spot on the floor and breaks into a sprint. Shouting echoes out from behind them, but he doesn’t pause or look back. The agent stumbles along next to him, and Kai tightens his grip on the pistol. He needs to get him out of here,  **_now_ ** .

“What are you doing?” The blond demands, confusion coloring his voice. Which is fair- no one ever explained that the brunet had switched sides.

“Long story short, Cole is persuasive and I’m a good guy now. C’mon, we need to get you out of here.” It doesn’t take him long to realize that the agent isn’t going to be fast enough. With a sigh, he throws him over his shoulder yet another time.

Zane doesn’t speak, but even in the silence, his bewilderment is evident. But at the moment, Kai can’t bring himself to care. He’s too focused on trying to get them out of there.

His feet pound into the stone floor as he races through the tunnels. Breathing heavily- more from adrenaline than physical strain- he turns a corner, only to find a group of cultists blocking his way.

Kai scans the tunnel for anything he could use to help him, but the agent on his shoulder gets down and to his feet, distracting him.

“The man with the leather jacket and black mohawk.” Zane doesn’t elaborate, but the brunet can figure out what he means, and he shoots the guy in the shoulder.

Two bullets down, four left. 

The cultists seem stunned by this turn of events, and it gives the two a chance to run past them and hopefully closer to the exit. 

“I don’t know the way out.” Kai admits somewhat sheepishly, continuing to run alongside the agent. Zane gives him a strange look.

“I do. This way.” The agent turns a sharp corner, and the brunet is quick to follow, letting the blond take the lead.

They race through the tunnels, and they pass by the room that they had went through earlier- the one with all the human trafficking victims.

Kai hesitates a moment. He can’t just leave them there. Not if he has a chance to do something about it.

But what  **_can_ ** he do? At the moment, not much. Maybe he could sneak a few out with him, but that would still leave the vast majority trapped.

Its then that he notices a guard with a set of keys. Keys that likely belong to the chains the victims are wearing.

Zane turns and looks at him, but Kai ignores the agent, choosing instead to shoot the guard in the leg before running over and snagging the keys off of him.

He turns, and finds himself face-to-face with the girl from before. With a small smile, he presses the ring into her hands. 

“I can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to get out. But I  **_can_ ** give you a chance. They can’t stop all of you. If you work together, you’ll have a shot at making it out. Good luck.” He raises his voice, not quite yelling, but speaking loud enough for them all to hear. As soon as he’s delivered his message, he turns and runs back to Zane, letting the blond lead once more.

The agent eyes him strangely, but doesn’t comment on his detour. If anything, the small smile he wears shows approval of his actions.

But even if it was the right thing to do, now he’s down to three bullets, and they still need to make it the rest of the way out. 

They run into another group of cultists, but instead of even trying to fight them, Kai just sprints by, dragging Zane behind him. By the time they’ve figured out what’s going on, the two of them have already gotten a few tunnels away.

He lets the blond lead once more, and they make it a good way without running into any more opponents.

But their luck does run out. Running down a hall, they find a dead end. Kai shoots the agent a questioning look, but the blond seems just as confused as him.

“There should be a passageway here!” Zane stares at the wall in shock. “I don’t understand-”

Footsteps echo behind them, and Kai glances around, looking for a solution, anything that could help them get out.

He spots a vent in the wall. It’s not ideal, but it’ll have to do.

“Do you know how to shoot a gun?” He questions, prying it open. It looks  **_just_ ** big enough for the agent to get through.

Kai’s a lot bigger than he is.

Zane’s bewildered expression doesn’t fade. If anything, he looks even more confused. “Of course, but why-”

Kai shoves the pistol into his hands. “It’s got three bullets left. Use them wisely.” Before the blond has a chance to reply, the brunet picks him up and puts him in the vent, closing it behind him. “Now get out of here.”

Zane hesitates a moment. “Are you sure?” It’s clear he knows the implications of this, but Kai just gives him a small smile.

“Tell your boyfriends I said  _ ‘hi’ _ .” 

With a slightly confused but determined nod, the agent starts making his way through the vent, hopefully going towards the exit. 

Taking a deep breath, the brunet turns to the entrance of the hall, just as some cultists run into view. And even if Kai knows he’s going down, he’s not going to make it easy.

Fists raised, he steps into a fighting stance. The group hesitates. They’ve clearly heard of him, or at least saw him fight in the tournament. “Surrender!” One of them calls. “You know that you don’t stand a chance.”

Kai takes a moment to think about his next words, when suddenly an idea strikes him. A grim smile on his face, he makes eye contact with the one who spoke.

“A ninja never quits.”


	15. He Got What He Wanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes hi this is garbage but I couldn’t figure out how to make it any better without destroying an important plot point so here you go

Waking up, it takes Kai a moment to register where he is and remember what happened. 

Oh yeah. He helped Zane escape, got absolutely trashed by some cultists, and then he got thrown back in the cell from before.

Yay.

This time, he doesn’t get up from his spot on the floor. He just sits there and waits. He’s in no hurry to get kicked back into the tournament. 

It gets boring after about five minutes, maybe less. Probably less. Kai’s not too good with boredom. The two of them don’t get along.

He’s not sure how much time has passed when he gives in, getting to his feet. If he’s quiet, maybe he can do some kind of exercise- anything to pass the time. Let’s see, what can he do with his hands in cuffs… Wall sits? Lunges? Squats?

A sigh escaping him, he decides to start with lunges. As long as he stays quiet, it’ll be fine.

* * *

  
Apparently he’s bad at being quiet. Who would’ve guessed? Him. He guessed, but he decided to exercise anyway. What can he say? Boredom is his weakness.

But much to his surprise, he’s not dragged out into another tournament battle. Even though the guards have noticed that he’s up, they just leave him alone. So Kai just continues his exercise and tries to ignore the growing feeling of dread in his gut. What is Chen up to?

Hours pass, and he eventually grows bored of working out. After a few minutes of laying on the ground and staring at the ceiling, he decides to try and strike up a conversation.

“Hey.”

He hears a loud whisper on the other side of the door, most likely between the two guards that stand there.

“My name’s Kai. Which you probably already knew. What’s yours?” He prompts. Maybe if he’s lucky, he might even get some information out of them.

“It’s… it’s Chope.” One of the guards tells him. “It is **_so_** cool to be guarding you. You’re **_really_** **_famous_**.”

A grin crosses the brunet’s face. This could be easier than he was expecting! “I  **_am_ ** pretty well known. Who’s your friend?”

“Kapau!” The other guard says cheerfully, clearly excited. “And he’s right, it’s an  **_honor_ ** . So cool.” The last part is spoken in a quiet mutter than he probably wasn’t meant to hear.

Kai takes a moment to try and think of something he could say to help him figure out a way out of here. 

“Well, I suppose you must be pretty high ranking to get assigned to me.” He lies. Judging by the way they’re acting, it’s kind of obvious that they’re low level. But hey, a little flattery never hurt anyone.

Anyone on the giving end of said flattery, anyway.

“Uh- well, not quite. But this could be the way we rank up!” Chope sounds really excited, and Kai frowns. For being in a cult, they’re very…  **_happy_ ** . Maybe he just doesn’t know much about cults, but still, something seems off… 

“So how did you get involved with Chen, anyway?” The brunet prompts. At this point, any information would be good information.

“Well-“

Loud footsteps make their way down the hall, and the guard cuts himself off as they come closer.

They stop outside the cell, and a familiar voice asks, “Is he awake?”

**_Skylor_ ** .

“Yep!” Kapau confirms. “He’s been up for a little while.”

“Good. You guys can go, I need to talk to him alone.” The backstabbing girl dismisses the two guards.

“Uh… are you sure?” 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Skylor confirms. And so with that, the two guards leave.

… she can’t be this stupid. Even in cuffs, he could take her down in less than a second- and she has to know this! So what’s her game here?

The lock clicks.

The door opens.

Kai takes a step back and prepares to slam her to the ground and run out, but she speaks before he gets the chance.

“We have your sister.” She informs him.

And just like that, all the fight goes out of him. His breath catches and his eyes go wide as he processes what she said.

“Wha- what?” His voice is choked, and while he would normally be upset with himself for it, at the moment he couldn’t care less. How did they get her? She’s supposed to be protected by-

By Lloyd. The one who hates him and outright said that he only was working with him because he needed Zane back. But now that he has Zane, he doesn’t have a reason to help him.

… Kai should’ve thought this through more.

“Nya. We have her.” Skylor repeats. “And- look, I’m sorry about the way things turned out. I didn’t expect my father to take things this far. But-“

“Chen’s your father?!” The brunet stares at her in shock. Well that explains a lot.

The girl glances behind her, seeming almost… **_nervous_ ** . “Kai, listen. My father, he- he doesn’t want you to know about this. But he’s planning on killing her. I’m trying to convince him not to, but I’m going to need you to work with me here.”

If Kai’s hands were free, he would’ve crossed his arms. “And why should I trust you?” He demands.

“Because you don’t want to risk me being right.”

And it’s true. He can’t just let Nya die when he knows that there’s something,  **_anything_ ** , that he could do that might prevent it.

The brunet sighs, glancing off to the side. He waits a beat, and then asks, 

“What do you need?”

* * *

  
So as it turns out, Skylor doesn’t have an immediate plan of action. She just wanted him to know what was going on so that he’d be careful.

And while  _ ‘careful’ _ has never been his strong suit, he’s found himself acting at a level of caution he didn’t even know he was capable of. Because for Nya, he would do  **_anything_ ** .

Even compete in this damned tournament.

And compete he does. Every opponent he faces is easily defeated, but Kai learns how to draw out the battle to provide more entertainment.

It makes him sick. Fighting and killing people for a crowd’s amusement? It’s  **_disgusting_ ** . How are they enjoying the loss of life? Every night when he goes to sleep, he can’t help but think back at all of the red on his hands.

_ ‘Sleep’ _ , he says, like he’s actually getting more than a quick nap. With all the tossing and turning and regret, he finds himself losing more and more of his resting time.

It’s been causing him to slip up.

Just yesterday, he almost lost. Karlof, he thinks it was, managed to hit him hard enough that he saw stars before taking him to the ground in a chokehold.

It was sheer luck that Kai was able to worm his way out and deal enough damage to defeat the other.

He’s tired, so tired, and not just physically. All of this pain and torture and death is beginning to wear on him. 

He’s not sure how much longer he can last.

But he can’t give in. He  **_can’t_ ** . He has to hold out, for Nya’s sake. He can’t let her get hurt, especially not because of him making a stupid mistake.

With that determined thought, Kai shifts his position a little more and tries to get some rest.

He’s got another long day tomorrow.


	16. Is There An Application Form?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the update took so long, I got writers block again. Hope it’s worth the wait!

Kai sighs, nursing his bruised jaw. According to Skylor, his escape with Zane was about a week and a half ago.

Chen still hasn’t outright threatened Nya, meaning he likely has some kind of elaborate plan that Kai’s too distracted to understand.

He doesn’t have time to be worrying about plans- he’s too busy worrying about surviving this stupid tournament.

Seriously, even  **_he_ ** has limits. How long is this going to go on for? How long do they expect him to keep this up? He can’t go on forever. Sooner or later, he’s going to lose it, and it’s anyone’s guess to what it’ll be first; the tournament or his sanity.

After everything he’s been through, it’s a miracle he still has the latter. 

He sits there for a few more minutes, staring at the wall. Wasn’t there a study saying that it only takes a few days without socialization to drive someone insane?

Time drags on, and on, and on, and- you get the picture. He’s just…  **_stuck_ ** . Alone. In a tiny little cement cell. With nothing to do but stare at the walls.

Well, he could also stare at the floor, but that’s not much more entertaining.

Kai groans, leaning back against the wall. He’s been sitting so long that his legs have started to ache, but the same thing happens when he tries standing, and he’s not just going to lay on the floor.

This is hell. If he goes to hell, this is what it would be. He’d just be stuck in a little box with his sister in danger. There is literally no way that this could be worse.

* * *

Well, it’s worse.

They stopped dragging him out for the tournament, which at first seemed like a blessing. Until a second day passes and he realizes something.

They’ve also stopped bringing by food. 

It’s a smart move. Chen knows that Kai can’t get out of this cell, and that if they take him out of it to kill him, he’ll have a chance to escape. So instead, they’re going to starve him. Or more accurately, dehydrate him. He can last a while without food, but his throat’s already gone dry, his head throbs, and it’s starting to get hard to even keep his eyes open with how gummy they feel.

He’s going to die here. This is the end. There’s no way out of this one.

He just wishes he could tell Nya goodbye.

* * *

He can’t make himself fall asleep. It’s late- he thinks- but he just can’t make himself be tired. His throat is as scratchy and dry as sandpaper, his stomach aches, and he can almost  **_feel_ ** the life draining from him. 

It’s kind of hard to sleep if you’re unsure if you’ll ever wake up.

But- it’s only been two days, right? He thinks it’s been two days. And you- you can last for three. Three days without water, that’s how long it takes. Yeah, he’s- he’ll last a little while longer.

There’s a loud thud outside the cell, and Kai looks up drearily. What’s going on out there?

The door opens, and the brunet frowns as he recognizes the person standing there. “C- Cole?” His voice is weak and scratchy- he barely registers that it’s his own.

“Come with me. Quietly.” The agent orders in a harsh whisper. 

“What about Nya? You got her out first, right?” The criminal demands weakly, struggling to get to his feet. 

Cole gives him a puzzled look. “Got her out? She’s been with us the whole time.”

What.

Ok, he’s pissed.

“Skylor’s a bitch.” Kai grumbles, leaning against the wall. The world spins around him, and he almost falls even with the added support.

“What happened to you?” The noirette questions, holding his hand out. The criminal takes it, struggling to stay on his feet. He tries to take a step forward, but starts falling, crumbling towards the ground. But before he lands on his face, he finds himself being supported in Cole’s strong arms.

Fuck, that shouldn’t be as hot as it is.

The agent stumbles a little, a quiet curse muttered under his breath. “I’m not going to be able to carry you.” He admits. “I kind of got shot recently.”

Karma is just as much of a bitch as Skylor is.

Kai struggles to hold himself up, pulling himself out of the noirette’s arms in order to stand on his own. “Yeah, okay. Sorry about that.” 

“I forgive you. Now let’s get out of here before more guards show up.” Cole glances around warily.

So the two of them make their way through the maze of tunnels. Thankfully, Zane got Cole a map, so they can figure out which direction to go without winding up at a dead end.

It’s slow going. Kai is barely able to stay on his feet, and the agent beside him is still limping from getting shot in the leg. If they end up in a fight, they don’t have a very good chance at winning.

The world is still swirling and shaking, so the brunet has to rely on Cole to keep steadying him so that he doesn’t end up on the ground. 

Here’s to hoping that they make it out- and hopefully in one piece.  
  


* * *

Holy shit.

They made it out.

Somehow, against all the odds, they managed to sneak by  **_six_ ** groups of guards and make it all the way out. Not just out of the factory, but into a car that was outside.

Kai’s not entirely sure where they’re going or who the silver-haired girl driving is, but they have water in the car, so he doesn’t really care. He chugs about three bottles before Cole cuts him off, telling him that it’s unsafe to drink so much at once.

Once he’s able to actually blink and swallow without pain, he realizes just how  **_hungry_ ** he is. Seriously, he hasn’t eaten in  **_days_ ** . 

“Do we have time to stop for food?” The brunet questions. “I haven’t eaten in two days. I mean, I think it’s been two days.”

Cole, who’s sitting in the front seat, turns back to look at him. “We’re trying to escape from  **_two_ ** crime lords without being tailed or tracked. I’m sure we have something you can eat back at the base.”

Kai sighs, looking down. “That’s fair.” He agrees.

The agent nods and turns back towards the front. After what feels like hours of driving, they finally stop in front of… 

Borg Industries? 

They have a base here? Huh. Cyrus Borg has a private company- it isn’t supposed to be connected to the government. 

Finally, after several secret passageways and doors with passcodes, they wind up in a large casual room that looks like it could be a lounge in a mansion.

Cole starts to take off his shoes, and he puts them on a nearby shoe shelf. Kai quickly does the same. 

The agent walks over and sits on a couch, and the criminal mimics his action.

“So, Zane tells me you’re a Ninja now.” He sounds amused by the idea. The brunet freezes. Shit. The blond had heard that?

“I, uh… I can explain?” He offers weakly, unable to actually do so.

“Please do.” A menacing voice rings out from behind him, and Kai tenses up even more as he realizes who it belongs to.

He turns to see Lloyd standing there with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. The sharp look in his eyes makes the brunet avert his gaze.

“I don’t suppose there’s an application form I can fill out?”

The blond arches an eyebrow, and Kai winces, turning away. Saying the catchphrase seemed like a good idea at the time, but now he’s not so sure.

“Cut him some slack.” Cole pipes up. “When I found him, they were trying to starve him to death. Speaking of which, when’s dinner?”

“Ask Zane.” The shorter agent’s voice is tight with annoyance, and he walks out of the room. Only when Kai can no longer hear him does he relax.

The brunet looks over at Cole. “I think he’s plotting my murder.” He informs the agent.

“He wouldn’t actually do that.” The noirette assures him. “He might hate you, but he’s not crazy.”

Kai nods, pretending that he agrees. “Okay, sure. Not crazy. Can I get something to eat now?”

The agent gets up from his seat. “Zane and Jay are the only ones who can actually cook, so we can look for one of them.” 

The brunet is quick to follow Cole as he leads him deeper into the base. “It doesn’t have to be cooked or anything. I’ll eat pretty much anything at this point.”

Before the agent gets a chance to respond, the two of them walk into the next room, where Jay and Zane sit on the floor, playing chess.

“Checkmate.” The blond declares, moving his bishop to a new space.

Jay sighs, putting his head in his hands.

“What’s the tally now? A hundred games to none?” Cole snickers, walking over to his boyfriends.

Kai trails behind him, unsure of what to say. As of right now, silence seems to be the best idea.

The ginger groans. “Set them up, Zane. We’re going again.” 

“Actually, I just grabbed Kai from Chen’s.” The noirette gestures to the criminal in question. “They were trying to starve him to death. Could one of you make him something to eat?”

Zane gets up from his spot on the floor. “Of course. Do you have any requests?” He turns to the brunet as he asks the question.

“Anything works.” Kai glances off to the side, trying to ignore the gnawing at his stomach. He decides not to ask for something quick, even though he’d rather eat sooner. This is their base, after all. He doesn’t want to be rude- god knows what’ll happen to him if they kick him out.

The blond nods. “I will be back shortly.” He promises. And with that, he walks out of the room and hopefully towards the kitchen.

Jay starts putting away the game. “Glad to see you guys made it out.” He smiles. “I was starting to get worried. That’s why Zane suggested chess. To help take my mind off of it. And I guess it did. Take my mind off of it, that is. And I-“

Cole sighs over-exaggeratedly. “Still haven’t found his off switch.” He mock-complains.

Kai, the idiot that he is, speaks without thinking. “I like hearing him ramble.” He shrugs.

**_Shit_ ** .

Gee, why not just flat-out say that he likes him? That’s pretty much what he just did.

Why does he do this to himself?!

The two agents pause, both giving him a strange look. The brunet rushes to try and fix his statement.

“I, uh, I mean that- it’s nice to be able to talk to somebody. I don’t really have any friends, so it’s nice to be talked to, because it means that whoever’s talking is comfortable enough to share things with me.”

Surprisingly, they seem to buy it.

“I don’t  **_actually_ ** hate his rambling.” Cole explains, ignoring Jay’s protest that it’s  **_not_ ** rambling, thank you very much. “I just like to tease him about it.”

The criminal nods with a smile, only  **_just_ ** catching himself before he says that the ginger is cute when he’s flustered. 

Jay finishes putting away the game. “Hey, Kai?” 

The brunet gives him his attention. “Yeah?” He replies.

“I- are we still good? I mean, the whole secretly getting information thing… no hard feelings, right?” 

Kai takes a moment. Uh, well… he didn’t really like having his feelings messed with, but at the same time, he doesn’t have it in him to be mad at him at the moment. And really, Jay’s the one in the right. He was trying to ensure people’s safety, and manipulating Kai was the best way to do that. And even now, he’s trying to make sure that he didn’t hurt his feelings.

It’s nice to have his feelings considered.

The brunet gives him a small smile. “Yeah, we’re good.” He confirms. He’d have to be crazy to be mad at the ginger.

The agent looks relieved, and he responds with a smile of his own. 

Cole sits next to Jay on the floor. “How’s working with Nya?” He asks, glancing over to Kai.

The criminal stiffens. Of course! How could he have forgotten about her?! 

“She’s pretty cool.” The ginger smiles. “Just yesterday she found three mistakes in my design for the Falcon.”

“Oh god, not the Falcon again.” Cole groans. “No matter how much you and Zane want it, it’s not gonna work.”

“Come on! A drone disguised as a bird, no one would suspect a thing! It would be perfect for recon!” Jay protests.

That... actually sounds really cool. If anyone thought they saw anything, everyone would dismiss them as a conspiracy theorist. 

“Wouldn’t a pigeon or something work better?” The noirette points out.

“That'd be too small, we wouldn’t be able to fit all the gear in it.” The ginger argues. “Besides, Zane’s got his heart set on a falcon now. You know how much he likes birds.”

Kai sits down beside them. He’s not entirely sure who he should agree with, but he finds himself leaning towards Jay. A falcon drone sounds pretty badass.

The two agents go into a heated discussion about the drone, and the brunet just sits there with a smile.

It’s nice to have friends.


	17. What Did Lloyd Say?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a little shorter than usual, but I couldn’t figure out what else to put here...

Zane comes by not long later with some food. Kai thanks him and proceeds to inhale everything on the plate.

Cole keeps looking from the meal to Zane, puppy eyes a silent plea.

Honestly, if Kai wasn’t so hungry he would offer some to him just for the look on his face. It’s unfair how someone so strong can suddenly pull something like this and become so goddamn adorable.

He shovels more food in his mouth to avoid making a comment that he’ll regret. The three of them are in a relationship, he needs to remember that. 

Zane ignores the pleading expression he’s given, choosing instead to talk to Jay about the Falcon.

A few minutes pass like this, and with a sigh, the blond finally turns his attention to Cole. “If you want something, why don’t you ask for it?”

The noirette hesitates for a moment before he speaks. “I’m hungry.” He admits.

“And?” 

“And I want food.” The field agent elaborates, still with his puppy dog eyes. 

“That is a statement, not a request.” Zane notes, a ghost of a smile on his face.

“Can you make me something to eat?” Cole tries, more pleading in his tone.

“I am capable of that, yes.” The smile is shifting to a smirk, and Kai glances between them. Does Zane do things like this a lot?

“ **_Will_ ** you make me something to eat?” The noirette gives it another shot.

“If you ask, yes.” The blond stares his boyfriend down, and Kai finds himself remembering his previous experience with the intelligence gatherer.

_ ‘ “You’re going to shut your goddamn mouth, and you're going to do it now.”  _

_ “Am I? I was not aware that you had control over my motor functions.” ‘ _

“I- make me something to eat.” Cole orders.

“I do not respond to commands.” Zane replies, turning back towards Jay.

“I’m asking you to make me something to eat, could you  **_please_ ** do that for me?” The noirette begs.

“I could, yes.”

Jay snickers, but gets up. “ **_I’ll_ ** make you some food- if only to keep you from burning down the kitchen.”

“ **_Thank you_ ** .” Cole breathes a sigh of relief. Then he frowns. “Hey! I can cook!”

“Yeah, but we want the  **_food_ ** cooked, not the building.” The ginger snarks, walking out of the room before the noirette has a chance to reply.

Kai knows he has a stupid smile on his face as the watches the interaction, but quite frankly, he doesn’t care.

That is, until Lloyd walks in. He quickly schools his expression into something more neutral and goes back to his food. 

“Zane, could I have a word?” 

The intelligence gatherer immediately stands. “Of course.” He agrees. 

The two step out of the room, the opposite way that Jay went. 

Cole makes a face as they leave. “Well that’s weird.” He mutters.

“What’s weird?” Kai finishes off his meal and awkwardly tries to figure out what to do with the plate.

“Lloyd doesn’t usually pull someone aside.” Cole explains. “If he has something important to say, he tells everyone. He doesn’t usually keep secrets.”

“Maybe he just didn’t want me to hear.” Kai offers. 

The agent doesn’t seem convinced, and he glances back over to where the other two had left. “Yeah. Maybe.” He agrees.

After about five minutes, Zane comes back into the room. He’s alone, and has an expression so clean that it's obviously a mask.

“Is everything okay?” Cole asks with a frown, studying his boyfriend.

“Everything is fine.” The blond assures, sitting down in the chair he was in before. “I am merely processing some information.”

The field agent doesn’t seem satisfied with this answer, but he doesn’t push, giving Zane a simple, “If you say so.” in response.

Kai would question him, but it’s not really his place to do so. So he asks something unrelated.

“Uh, what do I do with the plate?” 

The blond stands and makes his way over. “I will take care of it.”

So the brunet hands it over, and the intelligence gatherer heads off in the direction Jay had left.

Speaking of Jay, shouldn’t he be back by now?

Almost as if summoned by his thoughts, the ginger returns. “Food’s on the table.” 

Cole grumbles something under his breath before getting up and exiting the room, heading off to find his meal.

Jay comes over and sits by Kai. “So-“

Lloyd comes back into the room. “Jay, can I grab you for a minute?” 

“Hmm? Uh, yeah.” The ginger gets up. “Be right back.” He promises, before heading off with the mastermind.

… why does he have a bad feeling about this?

* * *

It isn’t Jay who returns to the room next, but rather Cole- and by the time he does, half an hour has passed. 

During that time, Kai mostly just sat there while internally freaking out.

“Lloyd, uh… Lloyd really doesn’t like you, does he?” 

Oh no. What did he do? Forcing nonchalance, Kai smiles. “So I was right. He  **_is_ ** plotting my murder.” He jokes.

“Not quite.” The noirette glances back to where he came from. “I, uh… do you really-“

Zane walks in, giving Cole a sharp glare. “We agreed not to bring it up.” He reminds. “We can handle the situation at a later date.”

“Right. Yeah.” The noirette agrees, but he doesn’t look away from Kai until Zane heavily clears his throat and gestures at the door.

The field agent leaves, and Zane walks over to sit beside Kai. A minute or so passes without a word.

Kai is the one who speaks up. Nervously, he asks, “What, uh… what did Lloyd say?”

“That is unimportant.” Even though the words dismiss the issue, the discomfort in his tone expresses that it  **_is_ ** , in fact, important.

But the brunet chooses not to argue, and just nods his agreement. “So, what are we going to do about Morro?”

“Lloyd is in the process of coming up with a plan. Until he has, there is no immediate course of action that we can take.”

The criminal nods. “And what do we do until then?” 

“You may remain stationed at the base. Nya is staying nearby, but given your escape, we will have her moved here. Someone will have to inform her of the situation, and I feel that it would be best coming from you.”

Kai tenses. Right. He’s not going to be able to keep this a secret anymore.

… Nya’s going to kill him.


	18. Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was originally half the length but I started writing the next chapter and then decided to merge that with this.

“Kai, what’s going on?” His sister demands. Her arms are folded tightly across her chest, and there’s a sharp scowl on her face.

The two of them stand in a living room in the base, and thankfully, the agents who are stationed there have decided to leave them alone.

The brunet gives a nervous chuckle. “Uh, well. What do you know so far?”

“I know that you’re a lying asshole.” 

Kai winces, glancing off to the side. “Okay, that’s fair. Before I say anything, I just want you to know that I did it to keep you safe.”

“What the fuck did you do?” Nya demands once again. 

“I think you’ve figured out that I’m not actually a manual laborer. I never have been. I, uh, well… up until recently, I’ve kinda… um… been working underground?” The brunet admits, still not making eye contact.

“That better not mean what I think it does.” His sister narrows her eyes.

He gives a nervous chuckle. “Well, then I’m hoping that you’re not thinking that it means I’ve been a criminal.”

Her glare cuts through him like a knife. “Kai-“

“I know, I know! Its just… I didn’t have a choice. I was  **_sixteen_ ** , Nya. I didn’t exactly have a lot of career options.”

“There has to have been  **_something_ ** -“

“But there wasn’t!” Kai yells. But then he sighs, softening some. “Nya, my choices were let us starve, or pick up a gun. And by the time I was old enough to do something else, they wouldn’t let me out. They’d kill the both of us if I tried. So I stayed. I-“

“How many?” Nya demands, a small crack in her voice.

“What?” The brunet tenses, hoping against hope that he’s wrong about what she's asking.

“How many died?” She clarifies. There’s fear in her voice, and it makes him wince.

He hesitates a moment, but ultimately gives in. There’s no point in trying to keep secrets anymore.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t-  **_how can you not know_ ** ?!” She demands. “I- Kai, what-“

“I lost count. If you count the arena, over fifty.” The brunet admits, ashamed. He wishes he could remember.  **_God_ ** , he wishes he could. Those people had lives, families, people who would miss them.

Nya’s expression of horror is burned into his eyes. He knows then and there that he’s never going to be able to forget it.

Just like his first kill.

But her next words surprise him. They’re nothing like he was expecting. 

“I’m sorry.” Nya tells him, pain all too visible in her eyes. “I’m so,  **_so_ ** sorry.”

His confusion must be evident, because she addresses it immediately. “I know you, Kai. And I know that you wouldn’t have done it if you had any other choice. And…  **_god_ ** , Kai, I’m so sorry.”

She locks him into a tight hug, and it takes him a moment to reciprocate the gesture. She- she doesn’t hate him?

The words are so quiet that he can only just make them out.

“It’s gonna be okay.”

And it’s then that he knows that it will.

* * *

Eventually, they go and find the others. They sit in the dining room, and the siblings sit down at the table.

Jay soon starts talking about the Falcon with Zane and Nya, but every once in a while, he’ll glance over at Kai with an unreadable expression that sets him on edge.

It takes him a few minutes to realize that Cole has been doing the same thing. 

And it takes him a few more to get up the courage to speak. It’s with the confidence that Nya had given him prior that he does.

“Hey, Lloyd? Could I have a word?” 

The blond nods. “Of course.” He agrees. He then leads the brunet out of the room and into a nearby hall, far enough away to be out of earshot.

Kai takes a deep breath. It’s now or never. “What did you tell them?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know  **_exactly_ ** what I’m talking about. What did you say?” The brunet demands.

“When I was Leyton, you trusted me with a secret, remember?” Lloyd seems almost smug as he speaks.

What? A secret? Why on earth would he tell him a s-

_ ‘ “What do you want with Jay?” _

_ “Well, I’m hoping for a boyfriend. But a regular friend would be nice too.” _

_ “I see.” _

_ “Don’t tell him I told you that.” _

_ “Okay. I won’t.” ‘ _

Kai feels his eyes widen. “You didn’t.” He feels dread start to settle in his gut. Jay’s in a relationship, and Lloyd went and told  **_both_ ** of his partners- and Jay himself- that the brunet likes him.

“Mm. You were considering making a move, too.” The mastermind notes casually.

“Wha- no I wasn’t!”

“Of course you were. Why else would you ask me to set the two of you up?”

Words escape him. Kai just stares in horror at the blond in front of him.

“And even after I told you he was taken, you still expressed interest. Really, I didn’t have high expectations, but you managed to-“

“You  **_bastard_ ** .” The brunet breathes.

Lloyd just smiles. “I'll see you later, Kai.” And the mastermind turns and walks away, back to the dining room.

And just like that, all the comfort Nya had given him is gone.

He was never meant to be happy.

* * *

When he returns to the dining room, it’s just how he left it. But somehow, it’s different. Or rather,  **_he’s_ ** different. 

The comfort and peace that he had had is gone. Lloyd stripped it from him, leaving him as lonely as he had felt before all of this.

In all honesty, he shouldn’t be so upset about it. After all he’s done, he doesn’t deserve to be happy.

Nya seems to notice that something’s up. “Kai, are you okay?” She questions.

“I’m fine.” The words are quiet, soft, and on the verge of breaking.

He doesn’t get to have friends. Lloyd was completely justified in taking them from him. He’s a monster, and somehow, in all the happiness that he had gathered, he had managed to forget that.

“Kai-“

“I’m  **_fine_ ** .” He insists, firmer this time. There’s a touch of anger in his voice, and he immediately regrets it. He didn’t mean to snap. He didn’t mean to make this worse.

But he did. Because he  **_always_ ** does.

“Really, sis, I’m okay. Just a little tired.” He lies, looking away, away from the faces of the people he had let down.

“No more secrets.” She insists. “What’s going on?”

The tension in the air could be cut with a knife. But he can’t answer. Lloyd set things up perfectly, the brunet couldn’t share what was going on even if he wanted to.

And he doesn’t. Lloyd is the one in the right here. Kai took his father away, took so many people away.

They should’ve left him to rot with Chen.

Wordlessly, Kai gets up from the table and goes back to a living room. He hears someone calling after him, but he ignores them, choosing instead to take a seat on a couch.

Why had he ever thought that it would be okay? He doesn’t  **_get_ ** to be okay. He deserves to  **_suffer_ ** for all that he’s done.

He’s killed so many. People died at his hands. Lloyd hates him because of it.  **_Everyone_ ** should hate him because of it.

Nya’s too nice for her own good. She shouldn’t have forgave him. The  **_victims_ ** can’t forgive him, and they wouldn’t want to. 

He doesn’t realize that someone has entered the room until they sit down beside him, the couch shifting under the new weight.

“Kai?” 

The murderer looks over to see Jay sitting beside him with a concerned and slightly apprehensive expression.

He looks away from the ginger. “Go away.” He mumbles. “You don’t want to see me.”

“Don’t tell me what I want.” Though the words are rude, the tone is gentle, and it expresses that he means no offense.

“Jay,  **_please_ ** . Just… leave me alone.” Kai deman- no, it’s not a demand. It’s a desperate plea, begging him to-

Begging him to  **_stay_ ** .

“You don’t really want me to leave. What's going on?” The agent presses, his voice soft and comforting.

“Why doesn’t everyone hate me? Lloyd does, but Nya- she doesn’t. Why doesn’t she hate me? I killed- Jay, I killed so many people. I’m a monster. And-“ The criminal cuts himself off as he realizes he was about to try to refute Lloyd’s claims. 

“And why don’t  **_you_ ** hate me?”

Bad move. He shouldn’t have said that,  **_why_ ** did he say that?! The ginger obviously hates him, he’s only here because Nya was worried, and she-

“I’m- look, I’m not very good with words. I can talk, sure, but it’s more of a ramble than a conversation. But I need you to get this.” Jay grabs his hand, catching his attention, making the brunet turn and look him in the eyes.

“You’re not a monster. You’re not a bad person. You’re the best you that you could be given the circumstances that you were given. You did your best, and that’s what matters.”

“Now, I’m not saying that Lloyd will stop hating you. But I need you to stop hating yourself. I- trust me, I’ve been down that road before. You don’t want to go there. Because in the end, you can’t be anyone else but who you are. But you’re not defined by your past. And yeah, you can’t change the choices you made then. But you  **_can_ ** choose what you do now. And Kai, I need you to choose to forgive yourself.”

Kai stares, tears forming in his eyes. He blinks a few times, but that just sends them rolling down his cheeks. 

There’s something in the back of his mind that screams that he shouldn’t, but he ignores it, choosing to pull Jay into a hug.

Much to his relief, the ginger doesn’t pull away, he just puts his arms around the ex-criminal and hugs him back.

“Thank you.” Kai breathes, almost too soft to be heard. He can feel the tears streaming down his face, but he ignores them in favor of pulling Jay closer.

“ **_Thank you_ ** .”


	19. Wait For Zane To Get Back

And that’s how Lloyd finds them, wrapped tightly together on the couch.

As soon as he walks in, Kai pulls away, wiping away the tears the best he can. He doesn’t want the mastermind to see him cry.

Jay looks over at the blond. “Is everything okay?” He asks.

Lloyd stares at them for a moment, a hint of confusion on his face, before he replies. “Uh, yeah. I’m going out for a bit with Zane, there’s a lead I want to check out.”

The ginger nods. “Okay. Try not to get killed.” It sounds almost like a joke, but there’s a hint of real worry in the back of his voice.

“I’ll do my best.” Lloyd promises with a slight smile. He gives Kai a look of distaste before he heads out of the room.

As soon as he’s gone, Jay redirects his attention to the ex-criminal sitting beside him. Wordlessly, he takes Kai’s hand. The contact is comforting. It’s- it’s nice to have someone there. 

He finds himself wishing that it could be more than platonic, that someone would care about him in  **_that_ ** way.

He immediately draws away from the agent. Jay isn’t interested, he’s in a relationship, Kai shouldn’t be thinking of him like that! Just having the thoughts make him feel as though he’s betraying the ginger’s trust.

“Kai?” 

“I- I think I’m feeling better.” The brunet dares to make eye contact for a moment. But it lasts longer than he meant it to as he finds himself lost in the electric blue irises that stare back.

Jay gives him a gentle smile. “Do you want to go find the others? Nya seemed pretty worried.”

Kai wrenches his gaze away. “Uh, yeah. Sounds good.” He wipes the rest of the nearly-dried tears from his face, mentally cursing as he realizes there’s nothing he can do to hide the red eyes that he must have.

So the two make their way back to the dining room. 

But no one’s there. Jay frowns, glancing around for a moment before heading off again. Kai quickly follows, unwilling to be left alone.

They head into some kind of workshop, full of parts and machines that he doesn’t know the names of. Nya is at one of the tables, doing…  **_something_ ** … with a circuit board and some pointy metal things that give off sparks.

Cole is laying on the floor nearby, staring at the ceiling with a look of utter boredom.

He brightens when the two others enter the room, sitting up. “Hey!” He greets with a smile.

Jay ignores him and walks up to Nya. “What’cha working on?” He prompts.

“Falcon.” She answers distractedly, not looking up from her work. 

Cole gets to his feet and walks over to Kai. “You, uh… you feeling any better?”

It’s then that Nya seems to realize that the ex-criminal is in the room. “Kai!” She exclaims, setting down the thing she was working with and half-jogging up to him. “You feeling okay?”

“I literally just asked him that.” Cole points out.

Nya shuts him up with a  **_look_ ** . Not even a glare, really, just a  _ ‘I’m done with your shit’ _ look.

“I’m doing better, yeah.” Kai glances off to the side. He doesn’t want to think about what was said to him and how deep it struck his core.

_ ‘ You’re not defined by your past. And yeah, you can’t change the choices you made then. But you  _ **can** _ choose what you do now. And Kai, I need you to choose to forgive yourself. ‘ _

Can he really do that? Forgive himself, after everything he’s done?

Maybe he can’t. But he can try. Because he doesn’t want to live like this anymore. He wants to be able to be  **_happy_ ** again.

“Hey, Nya?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.” 

He doesn’t wait for a reply, he just crosses the space between them and hugs her. 

He  **_can_ ** be happy again.

He just has to try.

  
  


* * *

Eventually, Jay and Nya start working on the Falcon together while Cole and Kai chat on the floor.

But eventually, the conversation drifts to the thing he so much wanted to avoid.

“So, uh… what did Lloyd say to get you so worked up?”

Kai immediately tenses up. The blond had lied,  **_that’s_ ** what got him worked up, but he can’t exactly tell Cole that.

“It- It was just me being stupid.” He lies, glancing off to the side. “Didn’t have anything to do with him.”

The agent beside him narrows his eyes in suspicion. “I know he said  **_something_ ** . What was it?”

“He exaggerated a secret I told him to make me look like a jackass.” The words leave him without a thought, and they’re immediately followed by regret.

**_Shit_ ** .

“You mean… what he told us?”

Kai feels his heart begin to race. “I- forget I said anything. It’s not a big deal.” The lie is easy to see, but the brunet just prays that the agent doesn’t pick up on it.

“Which part was exaggerated?” Cole questions, plowing past the walls he had attempted to put up.

**_God_ ** , he’s an idiot.

He’s saved from having to answer by Jay coming over. “Hey, what color eyes should Falcon have? Yellow or blue?” 

“I think blue.” Kai suggests, not even listening to himself. He’s just trying to change the conversation. 

And it’s definitely not related to how pretty the blue eyes look on the ginger in front of him.

“I thought that too! But Nya says that yellow would look better, and Zane- well, I think Zane would agree with me, but I don’t actually know if he would, and he’s busy right now, so-“

“Hey Zap-trap, could we come back to this?” Cole interjects. “Kai and I need to finish our conversation. It’s important.”

Jay looks surprised, but nods. “Uh, sure. Yeah. We can talk later.” He agrees.

**_Fuck_ ** .

“It’s not too important, we can-“

“Let’s talk somewhere else.” Cole interrupts. “C’mon.” He gets to his feet, and warily, Kai does the same.

The two of them bid the others a quick goodbye before heading into a living area. 

The agent sits down on a couch, and hesitantly, the brunet sits beside him.

“Kai. Which part was exaggerated?”

The ex-criminal shifts awkwardly. “I- uh. I didn’t ask him to set us up. And- and I didn’t know he was in a relationship, I wouldn’t have even voiced it if I knew that.” He’s begun to tremble. God, they hate him, they’re going to kick him out and he’s going to get killed by Pythor, they-

“But you do like Jay.”

The brunet doesn’t speak, he just turns away and curls in on himself. But that’s answer enough.

“Kai, I’m not mad.” Cole promises. “I’m- I’m a little stunned that Lloyd would lie like that, but I’m not mad.”

“Y- you believe me?” His voice cracks, and he winces. Why did it have to happen **_right_** **_then_**? 

“Yeah. I do.”

There’s a quiet pause between them, and Kai searches for something to say, but draws a blank. It stretches onward, but for some reason, it doesn’t feel all that awkward. 

“We can talk about it more when Zane gets back. He’s- he’s better at this kind of thing.” Cole breaks the silence. 

Kai nods. “Okay.” What does he mean by  _ ‘this kind of thing’ _ ? Is Zane going to be mad? How’s  **_Lloyd_ ** going to react? What-

Cole’s burner rings, and he quickly snaps it up. “Is everyth-“ He cuts himself off with an expression of horror. “On my way.” He shoves the phone into his pocket and looks to Kai as he runs out of the room. “Come on!”

The fuck just-

Kai quickly follows, letting himself be led through the base. They eventually reach what looks almost like a mini-hospital, and-

And a heavily bloodied Zane is on a bed, being tended to by a girl with silver hair. Has Kai seen her before? He feels like he has.

Jay stands by the bed, a panicked expression on his face. “Cole!” He immediately runs into his boyfriend’s arms.

“Jay, what- what’s going on?!” The field agent demands, staring at the injured blond.

Zane mumbles something incomprehensible. His injuries are extensive, ranging from burns to bloody gashes. 

The other two agents go to stand beside him, and Kai quickly follows, standing just a little farther away.

The blond seems to be forcing himself to stay awake through what must be an unspeakable amount of pain. He looks over to his boyfriends, and chokes out one word before fading into unconsciousness.

“ **_Morro_ ** .”


	20. Maybe There’s More To Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lol sorry for the abrupt ending
> 
> ... and yeah, poor Lloyd

Pixal- the girl with silver hair- fills them in on what happened.

Zane and Lloyd had been looking into a lead- a guy named Archer, who they believed has connections to both Ronin  **_and_ ** Morro.

Everything was going fine, all the way up until a bomb that was stationed under their car went off. 

Zane managed to escape and contact Pixal, but the last they had seen of Lloyd, he was being dragged away by a heavily armed thug.

“Okay, we need to rescue Lloyd, got it, but is Zane gonna be okay? He’s gonna live, right?  **_Right_ ** ?!” Jay demands as the girl is wrapping up her explanation.

“He will be fine, though it may take two weeks or so before he is able to function to the extent he could before. He was shielded from the blast, and should heal rather quickly.” Pixal explains.

Jay and Cole are visibly relieved, and Kai finds himself feeling the same way. He might not know Zane very well, and they didn’t get along for a while, but he’s still a good person, and he clearly means a lot to the others.

Tense silence settles over the room, and the ex-criminal realizes what the next step has to be.

“There’s nothing the three of us can do for Zane except wait. So right now, we need to focus on finding Lloyd.”

The other two turn to look at him in surprise. Cole narrows his eyes. “Don’t you hate Lloyd?”

“No,  **_he_ ** hates  **_me_ ** . There’s a difference. And even if I did, I don’t want another person to die because of me. So let’s get moving.” Kai turns towards the exit.

“Let’s?” Jay questions, a note of confusion in his voice.

“Yeah. Let’s.”

  
  


* * *

As soon as they get started, Kai immediately realizes that none of them have any idea what they’re doing.

It’s been about half an hour, and he’s resorted to using a whiteboard with pictures taped to it in a web to show what information they have, in comparison to what information they need.

Cole sighs. “Well, we know where the base is, so-“

“Except they know that we know, so it could be a trap!” Jay argues. 

_ ‘ “We could set a trap. Make them think they’ve found out a weakness that they can exploit, but once they do, it ensures their defeat.” _

_ “Have something in mind?”  _

_ “No, actually.”  _

_ “Well, it is a good idea. I’ll look into it.” ‘ _

“Ronin and Morro mentioned wanting to bait us in.” Kai confirms.

“But because they said that in front of you maybe it’s  **_not_ ** a trap!” Cole shoots back. 

Jay groans, clearly exasperated. “But even if it  **_is_ ** a trap, we can’t afford to let them have Lloyd for too long! God knows what Morro has planned for him!”

_ ‘ “You want me to play as Lloyd’s counterpart. Count me in. I’ve been wanting to take him down since day one.” ‘ _

_ ‘ “As much as I hate Lloyd, he’s not part of the relationship, so he’s out.” ‘ _

“Morro does hate Lloyd a lot.” Kai confirms. “And he expressed wanting to torture Zane, even though he doesn’t really have any real issue with him.” 

“Exactly. Lloyd is in a lot of danger- and that’s assuming he’s even still alive!” Jay runs a hand through his hair.

A sudden thought strikes the ex-criminal, and he sucks in a breath. “He’s not going to kill Lloyd.” He breathes.

_ ‘ “Pythor gave us free reign when it comes to the Ninja, we can do whatever the fuck we want with him. And I think I know what we should do. He’s already upset from watching his boyfriend die in front of him, I say we heavily traumatize him and then send him back, the rest of the Ninja can deal with the fall out.” ‘ _

“He’s not going to kill him.” Kai repeats in a horrified whisper. “He’s going to do something much,  **_much_ ** worse.”

  
  


* * *

Once he explained what he thought Morro had planned for Lloyd, there was silence. You could’ve heard a pin drop.

It lasted for about a solid five seconds. And then absolute  **_chaos_ ** ensued.

In short, there was shouting, hyperventilation, and just straight up  **_panic_ ** .

It’s been about fifteen minutes since then, so things have calmed down some.

“We need to get him out of there.” Jay grits his teeth. “We can’t let them hurt him like that!”

“We still need to come up with a plan.” Cole points out. “If we just charge in, we could make mistakes- mistakes that let Morro get the upper hand.” 

“Okay, so what  **_is_ ** the plan?” Kai groans. “We have next to nothing to go off of!”

“I- I don’t know, okay?! I’m working on it!” Cole throws his hands up. “I’m not a strategist! I just punch things and look intimidating!”

“I have a plan. We go to their base, grab Lloyd, then leave.” The ex-criminal decides.

“That’s not a plan, that’s a wish list.” The noirette deadpans.

“Then what do you propose we do?” Jay crosses his arms with a sharp scowl.

“I just said that I’m working on it!” Cole snaps. “We need a real, actual plan, and rushing things won’t help. We can’t just magically come up with something right this second-“

“I have a plan.” 

The three of them turn to the source of the new voice, only to see a confident Nya standing there.

“I have a plan,” she repeats, “and if we’re going to pull it off, we’re gonna need some time- and a way to buy it.”

* * *

… her plan is actually pretty good. Simple, but good.

“Like I said, we’ll need time. Two weeks, at the minimum. So we’re going to need to come up with a way to hinder Morro as much as possible.” Nya explains.

Jay nods. “I’ll start working on the gear.” He confirms, getting up from his seat. “You guys can figure out the rest.” And with that, he heads off to the workshop.

Cole is still deep in thought. “Even if we can gather information like that, we’re not going to know what we can do with it. We can use the layout, sure, but there’ll likely be other factors that we’ll need to decipher.”

“So what you’re saying is that we need Zane.” Kai realizes. “Well, Pixal said that it’ll take two weeks for him to recover, right? That’s how long it’ll take for us to get everything ready.”

“Yeah, but we’re going to need that information as soon as possible.” Cole reminds.

Loud and uneven footsteps sound down the hall. The three turn to look at the source, just as a slightly-better looking Zane walks in.

“I will be able to decipher information.” He confirms, leaning against the door frame.

“Zane!” Cole exclaims, jumping to his feet. He runs over to the blond, concern coloring his features. “You should be in bed!”

“I am fine.” The intelligence gatherer brushes him off. “From what I have overheard, it seems that my skill will be necessary in order to accomplish this plan. However, I believe it would be beneficial for me to be seated.”

Cole helps Zane over to a chair, quietly muttering to himself as he does. “For the supposed smart guy, you’re awful reckless, you know that?”

“Lloyd is more so. He-“ The agent hesitates a moment before continuing. “He is the one who shielded me from the blast.”

Wait… what?

Before Kai has a chance to question him, the blond is already continuing. “He realized what was going on before I did. He pulled the two of us behind another car, and protected me even more with his own body.” Zane’s voice trembles as he speaks. “We speak of rescuing him, but… I am uncertain if he is even still alive.”

Cole has frozen in place, his eyes wide, his jaw slack. Nya wears a similar expression, and Kai probably doesn’t look much better. 

For some reason, Lloyd never struck him as the kind of guy who would do something like that. But maybe that’s just because the mastermind had hurt him. After all, he was upset about the death of his father. He had every right to be angry.

But maybe there’s more to him than Kai first assumed. Sure, he knew that the blond is a good strategist, but he never even considered that there might be more to him as a person.

“He shielded you?” Cole whispers. “But- he knows that he’s the high-profile target- the one that they were after. Why would he-“

“I- I am uncertain, but I believe it may be because I was captured before. He gave orders not to rescue me. It- it is possible that he felt guilt over the matter.” Zane looks down.

Nya bites her lip, looking off to the side. Her concern is evident, but there’s a mix of other emotions- likely because of the way Lloyd had hurt Kai not long before this.

“He’s more injured than you are.” She comments quietly as the others are coming to a similar realization.

“And with much less caring companions.” The intelligence gatherer adds.

A tense silence settles over the room. A few minutes pass in it.

“What is the information I will need to decipher?” Zane finally speaks up.

“We’re going to finish up the Falcon and sent it in to see what we can find out.” Nya explains. “There are a few more factors to the plan, but that’s the main part that involves you.”

The blond nods, and Nya gets to her feet. “I’ll go help Jay work on it.” She heads off to the workshop, leaving the others to themselves.

“You should rest.” Cole tells his boyfriend. “It’ll help you heal faster.”

Kai arches an eyebrow. Funny how he didn’t seem to care when it was his own well-being at stake. 

The field agent notices his expression, if the face he makes is any indication, but he doesn’t comment on it.

“I- I will rest.” Zane agrees, letting Cole help him to his feet. “But do wake me up when you require my assistance.”

The noirette nods. “Of course.” He smiles. “Now let’s get you back to the medbay.”

So the two of them head off to the medbay, leaving Kai by himself.

The ex-criminal shifts awkwardly. Usually in a situation like this, he’d pull out his phone, but he doesn’t have it anymore. 

So he just kind of sits there for a minute, waiting for something to happen. But he quickly goes bored, and decides to go visit Nya and Jay.

They immediately kick him out so that they can concentrate. 

So he goes back to the room he was in before and just… waits.

It gets boring pretty quickly. 

Sighing, he picks up the whiteboard marker and turns back to the work they had done. Maybe he can figure out something new to make rescuing Lloyd easier.

Because they  **_will_ ** rescue him. 

Even though he’s probably going to yell at Kai for trying to intervene.

Oh well. He’ll just have to deal with it.


	21. Talk About It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That moment mid-fic when you suddenly remember ‘Oh yeah! I can’t fucking write!’
> 
> ... this is when that happened.

As Kai is going over the web, something suddenly clicks. The contact they were going to meet- Archer- has to be involved somehow. They need to figure out if he was involved in the planting of the bomb- which he likely was. If that’s true, they can do some digging on him. They know who he is, so it should hopefully be easy to find information about his background. That’s what Zane  **_does_ ** \- gather information.

They’ve already figured out that they can’t just do nothing for the two weeks it takes to prepare- they need to find some way to distract Morro, someway to limit what he can do to Lloyd. Depending on the connections that Archer has to the others, they might be able to throw a wrench in the criminals’ plans.

Kai caps the marker and sets it down, running off to go find Zane- he’s the one who they’ll need to pull this off.

He makes it to the medbay, but once he gets there, he mutters a quiet curse. Zane is asleep- and he’s going to need that rest to recover properly. 

… now what?

With a sigh, he decides to go looking for Cole. 

He finds the noirette pacing in the dining room, quietly muttering to himself. His concern is evident, but Kai isn’t sure if it’s for Zane or Ll- you know, on second thought, he’s probably worried about them both.

The field agent looks over when he walks in. “Hey.” He flashes a quick smile.

“I’ve got an idea.” Kai walks over and sits at the table, not bothering with a greeting. “We’ll need Zane for it, and he’s asleep right now, but once he wakes up, we could use it to buy us some time.”

Cole blinks. “You’ve got my attention.”

So Kai explains what he had come up with, and the noirette takes on a thoughtful expression, clearly considering it. “I’ve heard them mention Archer before, but we’ve never really gotten involved with him.” He admits.

“Which is why we’ll need Zane.” The ex-criminal glances back towards the medbay. “He said to wake him up when we needed him, but… “ He trails off, looking back to Cole.

The field agent nods. “He needs his sleep.” He agrees. “We can go over it with him later.”

“But what do we do until then?” Kai frowns. “We can’t just do nothing.”

“I’d say we go help Jay and Nya, but we’d probably just get in the way.” Cole admits. “So I guess we  **_are_ ** going to be doing nothing.”

The brunet makes a face. “There’s gotta be  **_something_ ** we can do.” He insists. 

The noirette sighs. “I don’t like sitting around any more than you do, but we don’t have a choice. I don’t want us to make things worse.”

And… he’s got a point. Anything they try will likely just make things more difficult.

Great. Just great.

* * *

When Zane wakes up, he is  **_not_ ** happy.

“I told you to wake me when you needed my help!” He reminds. 

“You’re  **_hurt_ ** , Zane. You need your rest.” Cole argues.

“You told me that you would wake me up!” The blond crosses his arms. “You lied to me!”

The field agent looks away. “I’m worried, Zee. I just want you to heal.” He points out. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell the truth, okay? But I just want what’s best for you.”

Zane softens. “I know that.” He admits. “I only wish that you would have woken me.”

There’s a soft pause between them, and Kai shifts awkwardly. Looks like they forgot that he’s here… 

After a few more moments, he clears his throat. “Anyway.” He begins. “We were thinking that maybe you could look into that Archer guy- I think I heard someone mention that he’s connected to both Morro and Ronin. Maybe we could use that connection against them?”

Zane nods slowly. “It is possible.” He agrees. “I will begin my research.” And with that, he heads off, likely to go find a computer and get started.

Cole makes to follow, but then seems to think better of it, turning back to Kai. “So, uh… we never got to talk about it earlier.”

Kai frowns. “About what?” He questions, a sinking feeling settling in his gut. He doesn’t mean-

“About… y’know. What Lloyd said.”

The ex-criminal tenses. “Uh, yeah. I guess we didn’t.” 

“I- I don’t think we should talk about it right now.” Cole assures him. “I think- Uh, we should have Jay and Zane here for that.”

He wants  **_what_ ** ? He wants to have the others there?!  **_Why_ ** ?! 

The noirette must see his panicked expression, because he rushes to try and fix things. “We’re not- it’s not because we’re mad or anything, it’s just that- we, uh, we just want to talk about it, is all.”

Why. Why do they want to talk about it? It’s only gonna make things awkward!

“I’m not very good at words, but… it’s just that- we, uh- well, at least Jay and I, Zane’s still kind of on the fence, but um… well. Like I said, we can talk about it later.” Cole shifts awkwardly, and if Kai didn’t know any better, he’d say that the field agent is  **_blushing_ ** .

What the fuck is going on. What the fuck. If they’re not mad, what’s it about? What is it about Jay and Cole that doesn’t  **_quite_ ** apply to Zane?

But Kai just nods. “Right.” He agrees warily. “I, uh… okay. Later.”

There’s an awkward silence. It stretches on for an uncomfortable amount of time.

“Fuck it, let’s just do this now. I’ll go grab Jay and Zane.” Cole runs off without waiting for a response.

The ex-criminal blinks. Uh. Okay? That- okay. Sure. Why not? Better to just get it over with. Rip it off, like a band-aid. 

So he sits down on the couch, nervously fidgeting. It’ll- it’ll be okay. Cole said that they’re not mad. He said that they’re not mad. He said that they’re not mad. He said that they’re not mad. He said that they’re not mad. He said that they’re not mad. He said that they’re not mad. He said that they’re not mad. He said-

He’s cut off from his mantra by Jay entering the room. The ginger sits on the couch farthest away from him, and- yeah, that definitely looks like a blush. 

What on earth is going on?

Zane and Cole enter, and the noirette sits next to Jay. The blond sighs and sits beside Kai, shooting the other two a glare until they move closer.

An awkward silence fills the room.

“What’s going on?” The ex-criminal questions, glancing around nervously. 

Zane takes a deep breath. “There are two ways that we could share this information. One would be quite blunt, but-“

“Blunt.” Kai interrupts. “Let’s just- I’d rather know what’s going on than have to decipher it from some long explanation.”

The intelligence gatherer nods. “Very well. Jay reciprocates your feelings.”

“Zane!” Jay squeaks out.

Kai feels himself short-circuiting. What?! Jay…  **_what_ ** ?!

“He asked for it to be blunt.” The blond points out.

“You didn’t have to say it like  **_that_ ** !” The ginger argues, his face flushed a bright red. 

Kai opens his mouth, to say what, he’s uncertain, but before he gets the chance to speak, Zane is already talking.

“Cole feels the same.”

“ **_Zane_ ** !” Cole yells, his face flushing. And yeah, that’s definitely a blush. 

“I am merely being honest!” The blond explains, but his own face has started turning red. 

Kai’s sure his face is as bright as theirs. “Uh- I- okay?” What's going on? Where are they going with this? “I- I mean, I like Cole too, he’s hot, and I- I’m just going to stop talking now.”

Everyone is wearing a heavy blush, and Jay clears his throat. “Uh. Anyway. Zane, could you, uh… explain the point?”

The blond nods. “I- I would also be interested in getting to know you better before I, personally, make any commitments. But, well… the three of us are polyamorous.” 

Something suddenly clicks. “Are you guys… are you guys, uh… inviting me in? Into your, uh, your relationship?”

There’s a pause.

“Yeah.” Cole gets out. “Yeah, um, we- we are.”

The pause resumes, and Kai finds himself struggling to breathe. This is- this is really happening? Cole, Jay… they like him? Granted, the whole thing with Zane may be a bit touchy, but if they’re being serious… that’s totally worth it. And the intelligence gatherer had said that they could get to know each other better, so that should-

He realizes that he’s just been sitting there while the other three wait for an answer. His face just about melting off from the blush, he forces himself to make eye contact with one of them- and it just so happens to be Cole.

“I, um… if you guys are serious about this…” He trails off, unsure of how to voice it.

“We are.” Zane assures, and Kai turns to look at him.

The ex-criminal gives a small, shy smile. “I- I’d really like that.” He looks down to the floor, unable to keep eye contact with anyone. 

For someone who likes to pretend to be cocky, he’s been really emotional lately.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before getting up and walking up to Jay. Okay. Just- no pressure or anything, but- God, he’s really going to do this. 

The ginger stands when he reaches him, a shy blush hiding his freckles. “I, um-“

Kai brings a hand up to Jay’s jaw, gently prompting him to look in his eyes as he leans in.

“C- can I?” He murmurs. He hates the stutter that escapes him, but there’s not much he can do about it. 

The ginger’s eyes are wide, and he nods timidly. “Please?” He whispers in response.

Slowly, Kai brings their lips together. The kiss is shy and tender as the two of them explore each others’ mouths.

When the brunet pulls away, he becomes aware of the eyes on him, and he glances over at the others.

Cole and Zane stare with wide eyes. Thankfully, neither of them seem bothered by the kiss. In fact, judging from the look in Cole’s eyes, he, at least, is  **_more_ ** than okay with it.

Jay makes a squeaking noise. “We, um… we still need to find Lloyd?” He gets out, and Kai returns his attention to the ginger.

“Right.” He agrees, taking a step back, a wave of disappointment hitting him. “We, uh, we do need to do that.”

So both him and Zane go off to do their work, leaving the ex-criminal alone with Cole.

Fighting back the rush in his veins, Kai makes his way back over to the field agent. “Can I sit here?” He gestures.

“That’s my lap?” The noirette returns, his face still flushed. But the brunet finds himself falling more into himself, becoming less self-conscious- at least for the moment.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” He returns easily.

With wide eyes, Cole nods, his lips parted slightly as he stares at the ex-criminal. 

Kai takes his seat, curling up until the field agent puts his arms around him. A smile tugs at his lips, and he relaxes into his boyfriend.

**_His boyfriend_ ** . God, that feels good.

They still need to rescue Lloyd. They still need to stop Morro and Pythor. There’s a hundred things that could go wrong and get all of them killed.

But Kai hasn’t felt this happy in a long time. The danger that they’re faced with is totally worth it.

Cole hugs him closer to his chest, and the brunet snuggles into him more.

They might be facing danger and death. But in all honesty? Things have never been better.


	22. Kai and Cole- A Summary

Zane does his digging on Archer, and it turns out that his connection to Morro is that he owes him a few favors- enough to explain the bomb. And his connection to Ronin is that the thief owes him a hefty monetary debt.

There’s got to be some way to use this against them- but for the life of him, Kai can’t figure out what it is.

They need a strategist, but unfortunately, the only one they have is currently in captivity. 

… wait. Maybe they can find someone else. If they can find another mastermind, they’ll have a much better shot at this!

Unfortunately, Kai doesn’t exactly have many connections. So he’s going to have to tell the others and hope against hope that they do.

As of right now, he’s still in the living room, sitting beside Cole- so close that they’re touching- as he listens to Zane’s report.

The blond finishes explaining, and looks to them, looking for some kind of response.

Cole still seems slightly flustered, so Kai decides to voice his idea. 

“So I was thinking, usually for this you’d have some kind of mastermind, right? Usually Lloyd. But since he’s the one we’re rescuing, maybe there’s someone else?” 

Zane tilts his head, seeming to consider it. “I am unsure if we have any allies capable of this.” He frowns. “I will ask Wu if he happens to know anyone who could assist.”

“We still need a way to buy time for Nya and Jay to finish things up.” Cole points out. “Is there anything we can actually do with Archer?”

The intelligence gatherer frowns. “I am not sure.” He admits. “Perhaps-“

Kai stops listening, because he’s struck with a sudden idea. A little immoral, yeah, but it could work. 

“What if we kidnap Archer? We could get information on what’s going on with Lloyd at the same time as distracting Morro.” He interupts whatever Zane had been saying.

The other two turn to him, and he suddenly feels a wave of embarrassment hit him. He just suggested kidnapping someone! What-

“That’s… actually a good idea.” Cole says slowly, glancing over at Zane. The blond seems to be deep in thought as he considers it. 

“We would have to find some way to capture him.” Zane notes. “He is likely going to be cautious after his involvement in the explosion.” 

“Unless he doesn’t know that we know he was involved with it.” A smile starts to form on Cole’s face.

Kai feels his eyes widen as it clicks. “We can pretend we don’t know about his connections and try and trick him out.”

Zane shakes his head. “That would be too dangerous.” He points out. “He would likely set another trap like the one Lloyd and I walked into.”

Cole sighs, shoulders sagging as he looks down. “That’s a good point.” He concedes, clearly reluctant. “I-“

“Unless it’s me.”

The other two whip to face him. “My apologies, could you repeat that?” Zane stares at him intently, and Cole wears a similar expression of disbelief.

“I should be able to maneuver my way out of a trap. If we tell him it’s someone else coming- probably Jay, because Cole’s supposed to be dead and they don’t know how things went after the explosion- I might be able to snag Archer and escape.” Kai explains.

“No way.” The field agent’s disbelief has shifted to almost  **_outrage_ ** . “There is no way in  **_hell_ ** that you’re going to do that. Do you have any idea how dangerous it would be?!”

“I’ve got a pretty good idea, yeah- it would be  **_really_ ** dangerous. But unless one of you has a better plan-“

“ **_Kai_ ** .” Zane glares. “You cannot risk yourself like that!” 

“Why not?”

The others’ expressions are so intense that it’s almost laughable. Cole looks like he’s half a second away from  **_snapping_ ** , and Zane looks almost horrified that Kai would say that.

“ **_NO_ ** !” Cole yells, standing up as he slams his hands on the table. “Kai, I am not going to let you-“

The ex-criminal crosses his arms. “I’m not asking for your permission.” He interupts.

The field agent closes his eyes, sucking in a deep breath. Zane takes the opportunity to speak. 

“What I believe Cole is trying to say, is that such a move would be  **_extremely_ ** reckless, and could very well result in you getting killed.”

“I know.” 

“You could  **_die_ ** .”

“I know.”

“Then why in  **_heavens name_ ** would you-“

“Because we need to rescue Lloyd.” Kai stares Zane down, not budging. “We’re going to need him if we’re going to take any of them down. He’s more valuable than me.”

“Okay,  **_first of all_ ** , you can’t just say one human life is more valuable than another persons- that’s not how it works!” Cole argues, getting in Kai’s face. “ **_Second_ ** -“

Zane pulls his boyfriend back. “Allow me.” He whispers. Still looking upset, the field agent stops talking and sits back down.

“If you were to fail, not only would your own life be at stake, but we would be no closer to actually freeing Lloyd.” He explains. “And then we would be down another person- and with such a high risk of failure, it seems highly illogical to follow through on this course of action.”

Kai pauses. What he’s saying… it makes a lot of sense. They can’t afford to risk what would happen if it  **_didn’t_ ** work.

So he nods. “Okay.” He agrees. “We can come up with something else.”

“You’re damn right we’re going to come up with something else!” Cole snaps. “You can’t just risk your life like that!”

“I can if it means protecting the people I care about.” Kai doesn’t waver, keeping his eye contact and firm tone.

Cole sputters, clearly upset with this response. “The fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

“It means that if I have to die to protect the people I care about, then I won’t hesitate. You guys are more important.”

The others stare at him, and Kai stands up. “It’s getting late. Like, really late. Is there some place I could crash?”

Zane nods slowly. “We have a few spare rooms. There should be one for both you and Nya.”

“Are we going to be able to grab some things from my apartment? Because I’m probably going to need a change of clothes.” Kai admits, looking down at himself. How long has he been wearing this now? Since he got caught by Chen? Yuck.

And oh, shit, he sat on Cole while wearing this! That’s… disgusting, how on earth was the field agent okay with that?

Another thought hits him. How long has it been since he took a shower?  **_Fuck_ ** , he must be a mess right now! 

He feels a sudden wave of embarrassment hit him. Wow. He really walked around like this all day and didn’t even think twice about it.

He’s a dumbass.

Cole blinks a few times, still looking at him in angered disbelief. But he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. 

“We will not be able to go back- it would be much too risky.” Zane speaks up. He seems to be pondering a solution to this when Cole suggests one.

“You can wear some of mine- just until we can send someone shopping.” The field agent offers. “To be honest, I don’t think you could fit in anyone else’s.”

Kai nods. “Okay.” He agrees. “But first, I think I need a shower.”

Zane looks amused, a small chuckle escaping him. “That you do.”

* * *

Kai steps out of the side bathroom and back into the guest room, noting the black hoodie and sweatpants laid out on the bed. A small smile on his face, he gets dressed. The outfit is kinda big on him, but it doesn’t really bother him that much- especially not with how soft it is. 

He returns to the bathroom to brush his hair, hoping that he can fix the rats nest that it had become. 

It doesn’t stick out quite right in the spikes- but oh well. At least he was able to get the grease out.

After he’s decided that it’s the best he’s going to be able to get it, he heads back out into the base to find one of the others- he’s not sure if there’s anything else he needs to do before going to sl-

“Um, h- hey.” A voice from behind him greets. 

Kai turns, coming face to face with a blushing Cole. “Hey.” He returns, trying to figure out what has the field agent fidgety. 

Then it clicks, and Kai has to fight to keep the wicked smile off of his face.

“The hoodie’s comfy.” He comments innocently, flipping up the hood.

Cole nods weakly. “Yeah. That’s- it’s my favorite. And also Jay’s favorite. He steals my clothes a lot.” His gaze is locked on Kai, and the ex-criminal is  **_loving_ ** this. Honestly, he’s not used to people liking him like this, but  **_holy shit_ ** does it make him feel good.

And he is going to tease the ever loving fuck out of Cole for it.

Why? Because he can. And he wants to see just how flustered he can get his boyfriends- Cole just so happens to be his current target.

Kai nods, still fighting off that smirk. “I can see why. And while the hoodie is comfy, don’t get me wrong… I think I prefer your lap.” He gives a quick wink.

Cole stares at him, eyes wide. He swallows, clearly trying to come up with words. But no words come, and he just stands there, still gawking at Kai.

“Cat got your tongue?” The ex-criminal teases.

Cole blinks and shakes his head. “I, uh- it’s just- it looks good on you.” 

Kai finally lets the smirk through. “You should see me without it.” 

The field agent starts coughing, and the brunet stifles a laugh. He’s having  **_way_ ** too much fun with this.

“Anyway, I wanted to make sure that there’s not anything I need to do before going to bed.” 

“Not- not that I know of, no. You, you should be all set.” Cole answers.

Kai grins. “Great! I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

The noirette nods. “Um, yeah. See- see you tomorrow.”

So Kai turns and makes his way back to the guest room- but he does shoot a glance back at his boyfriend, just to see how he’s doing.

Cole’s face is still flushed, and he’s still staring at Kai. They make eye contact for a moment, and the ex-criminal winks.

Without waiting for a reaction, he turns again and heads back to the room. As soon as he closes the door behind him, he starts to laugh. 

**_Fuck_ ** , Cole’s adorable. 

With a silly grin on his face, he finishes getting ready for bed, and then crawls under the covers.

It’s been a while since he’s been this happy. 


	23. A What And A What?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I'm not dead!!
> 
> (Also, the parts Jay names are canon actual parts in the show, I couldn't make up names this weird)

Kai wakes up to someone shaking him. Groggily, he opens his eyes. “Huh?” He grumbles, shoving at the person in an attempt to make them stop.

His eyes focus, and he realizes that it’s Jay. “Good morning!” The ginger chirps. 

“What time is it?” Kai complains, sitting up. 

“6:45. Zane said we should let you sleep in a little.” Jay explains.

Kai gawks. “6:45 is  **_sleeping in_ ** ?!” 

“An extra 45 minutes.” Jay confirms, somehow still cheerful even with how early it is. “Now c’mon, Zane’s making breakfast.” 

The brunet groans. “Okay, okay, I’m coming.” Jay backs up and lets him get up from the bed. With a yawn and a quick stretch, he gestures for the ginger to lead the way.

So Jay takes him to the dining room, babbling about the Falcon all the way. Kai’s not even listening, he’s just marveling at how adorable his boyfriend is when he gets excited. The wide hand gestures and sparkling blue eyes- he’s too cute for words.

Suddenly, Jay frowns. “You’re not listening to a word I’m saying, are you?”

“Nope.” Kai agrees.

Jay groans. “You’re just as bad as Cole.” He complains as they walk into the dining room. 

“What did I do?” The field agent questions.

The ginger crosses his arms with a pout. “Not important.” He grumbles, walking over to the table.

Shit, he’s not actually upset, is he?

Kai wracks his brain for what he should do. Fuck, he’s bad at social situations.

“Uh, if you tell me again, I’ll listen this time.” The brunet offers, sitting across from Jay. “It’s- I was just watching you be excited, and I wasn’t really thinking about what you were excited about.”

Jay shakes his head with a small smile and an eye roll. “Cole does the same thing- and I think Zane does it from time to time, too. For some reason everyone seems to think that I’m cute when I’m excited.”

Kai breathes a sigh of relief. So he’s not mad!

“That’s because you are.” Cole interjects. “I love watching you babble.”

Jay makes a face. “It’s not babbling!” He protests. “I’m talking about complex circuitry and how different elaborate mechanical parts work together! I bet you don’t even know the difference between a compact converted jiggly compressor and a whiz bang automated amplifier!”

Cole frowns. “A what and a what?” 

“Exactly! Those two things have absolutely nothing in common! Well, I mean, I  **_guess_ ** they could both be used to design a solar powered machine, especially if you added an upside down rotter derottermabob and then-“ Jay launches into another ramble about technology, and Cole and Kai exchange a glance. Jay really is adorable.

A few minutes later, the ginger is still talking, and Zane walks in. Interrupting Jay, he asks Cole to help him set the table.

“Hmm? Sure.” The field agent gets up and follows Zane into the kitchen, and Jay suddenly seems to realize he was rambling again.

The ginger crosses his arms, pouting at the floor- which is only making him look more adorable, which probably isn’t his intention, but it’s happening anyway.

“Stop smiling like that.” Jay grumbles, and Kai realizes that he’s giving the ginger heart-eyes. 

“Stop being so cute.” He retorts.

“I’m not cute!” Jay snaps, his face flushing a deep red. He must not approve of whatever expression Kai has on, because he narrows his eyes. “I- I’m not!” He insists.

“Uh-huh.” Kai smirks.

“Oh, shut up.” The ginger grumbles. 

“Mmmm no.” The ex-criminal gives a cheeky grin. 

Jay seems to fumble for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. After a moment- a moment past when he probably should’ve responded- he speaks. “I’ll gag you.” He threatens weakly.

“Ooh, didn’t realize you were kinky.”

Jay opens his mouth to respond, but just then, Cole renters the room. “Okay, I caught the tail end of that, and now I need to know what’s going on.” He sets some plates down on the table, and walks over to sit back in his previous seat, beside Jay.

“I would also like to know the content of this conversation.” Zane pipes up, following behind the field agent and setting silverware and a few more plates down.

The ginger’s face is bright red, and Kai can’t help it- he starts laughing. Cole and Zane seem confused, and Jay only seems to grow more flustered.

“It’s not what it sounds like!” He defends, and Kai finally catches his breath. 

“How do you guys get any work done when you have someone this adorable around?” The brunet jokes.

“I’m not adorable!” Jay shrilly insists.

Zane shakes his head, sitting down at the table. “I beg to differ.” He smirks.

The ginger crosses his arms with a pout. “ **_Cole_ ** , they’re bullying me!” He whines.

Cole pretends to study Jay intently. “I dunno, you look pretty cute to me.” 

Jay huffs loudly, his face still flushed red. Wordlessly, he starts to eat, signaling that he’s done with the conversation.

And just then, Nya walks in. She sits down next to Kai and glances around the table. “What did I miss?” 

“Nothing important.” Zane is quick to assure her. “How is the Falcon coming along?” 

“Almost finished. We just need to do a little bit more programming, and he’ll be all set.”

Jay nods, his face starting to return to its normal color. “We could use your help with it, though. You’re like some kind of code wizard- I’ve never seen anyone program as well as you.”

Nya blinks. “Really?” She looks over to Zane again. “Maybe when we’re not on a time crunch, you could teach me a little.”

“I would love to.” The blond smiles. 

They casually chat, but everyone’s more focused on the food than the conversation- Kai included. He didn’t really have a chance to appreciate Zane’s cooking before- he was just trying to eat it as fast as possible so that he wouldn’t starve to death. But damn, is Zane a good chef.

Cole finishes eating first, and starts to put things away. Jay finishes second, and heads off to go work on the Falcon. 

Once Zane’s done, he starts to help Cole put things away. Nya leaves to go help Jay not long after, and Kai is done shortly after her.

He tries to take his place to the sink, but Cole snags it and puts it in the dishwasher. “There. All done.”

So Zane starts the dishwasher, and then heads off to go help Jay and Nya with the coding, leaving Cole and Kai to themselves.

“Clothes shopping time.” The field agent decides. He heads off, and Kai quickly follows.

“I thought it wasn’t safe to go out?” He frowns. “I mean, we could shop online, but-“

“Or we could hire a shopper.” Cole interjects, sitting down on the living room couch. He pulls out his phone, and begins tapping away, doing… something.

“We could do what?” Kai gives him a strange look.

“Hire someone to go shop for us.” Cole explains.

“That’s a thing people do?” Who has the money for that? He can understand rich people doing it, but why would a middle-class person pay a person to go get things for them? Seems like a waste of cash.

“Yeah, we use it a lot, actually. We don’t do pick up here, though- we have someone else go grab it from a drop point and bring it back.” Cole continues to tap at his phone. 

Kai nods slowly. Okay? He can understand why the agents would do it, but why would an everyday citizen?

“Alright, pick some things out.” Cole hands him his phone, and Kai begins to scroll through the clothing options.

They chat idly as he picks things out- and Kai makes sure that nothing he chooses is over-the-top expensive. He finds a few things that he owns back at the apartment, and makes sure to put those in the cart.

“How many outfits should I get?”

“Probably a minimum of fourteen, we have a laundry day once a week, but with everything that’s going on, we might miss it.” Cole admits.

Kai nods, and they continue to chat as he finishes up with fifteen sets of clothes. Then he hands the phone back to his boyfriend- a phrase that still makes him giddy with excitement.

“You seem cheerful all of a sudden.” Cole notes, tapping at the phone. “What are you thinking about?”

“I just remembered that I’m lucky enough to be dating you.” 

Cole’s face heats up, but he doesn’t look away from his phone. “You’re a sap.” He mumbles.

“I’m  **_your_ ** sap.” He corrects- but then pauses. “Well, you don’t have a monopoly on the sappiness- Jay and Zane have to put up with me too.”

Cole rolls his eyes and taps a few more times. “Alright, someone should drop our stuff off at one or two.” 

Kai nods. “Sounds good. What do we do until then?” 

His boyfriend pauses. “I’m… actually not sure. Usually I’d just go talk to someone on the team, but everyone’s busy right now, and I don’t want to get in the way.”

Kai nods. “We could spar?” He suggests.

Cole shakes his head. “Pixal says that while my leg is healing nicely, I should avoid unnecessary strain.”

Hmm. Well, now what? 

“We do have a training course, if you want to run it. I’m the only one who’s done it so far- well, a few other field agents have, but no one other than me has made it to the other side.”

The former criminal frowns. “But what will you do?” 

A light blush tinges Cole’s face. Still, he seems very nonchalant with his words. “The others say I look really hot when I run it.” 

Kai feels a smirk flicker across his face as he gets to his feet. “Lead the way.” He prompts.


	24. The Training Course

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you realize that you accidently plagiarized some of your best lines

This training course is  **_brutal_ ** . Kai’s original plan of watching Cole watch him goes straight out the window as he tries to get to the other side while taking down dummies, avoiding thankfully wooden blades, and generally just trying to not get his ass handed to him.

No wonder Cole was the only one able to get to the other side- this thing is  **_ruthless._ ** Who even built it?!

Probably Jay. He most likely designed it specifically for Cole-

Kai suddenly realizes that he was caught in his thoughts when he’s thrown to the thankfully padded floor.

“Ow.” He complains half-heartedly.

Cole turns the course off and walks up to him, clearly concerned. “Are you okay?” He questions.

Kai nods and sits up. “How far did I make it?” He asks.

“About three-quarters of the way through.” Cole chuckles lowly.

**_Damn it_ ** . 

Before he has a chance to say anything out loud, Jay runs into the room, clearly excited. “We finished the Falcon!” He proclaims proudly.

Kai gets to his feet. “The plan almost ready?” 

The ginger scratches the back of his neck. “Well, no. We just have the Falcon, but now that it’s done, it should be easier from here. And we can also use it for recon!”

Cole nods. “Anything we can do to help?”

Jay’s nose scrunches up, and Kai resists the urge to coo at how cute he is. “Hmmm. Don’t think so.”

Before Kai gets the chance to say anything, Jay’s already talking. “Anyway, I should get back to the workshop. See you guys later!” The ginger runs off without waiting for a response.

Cole chuckles. “He’s adorable.” 

Kai nods his agreement. “Really,  **_really_ ** adorable.” He confirms. 

Cole chuckles lowly before turning back to the training course. “You want to try again?” He offers. “It should get easier the more you do it.”

Kai hesitates a moment before nodding. “Sure, why not?” 

* * *

He gets his ass handed to him another seven times before he makes it to the other side. “First try.” He jokes, panting heavily.

His boyfriend looks impressed. “It took me sixteen times before I could do that.” He admits. “But then again, it’s been a few years since then.”

Kai nods. “Yay me.” He gives a weak smile, still panting. He bends over some, resting his hands on his knees. 

“I think you need a break.” Cole decides.

“I think you’re right.” Kai agrees, letting himself be led back into the living room. With a loud sigh, he collapses onto the couch. A sudden thought strikes him. 

“... maybe I shouldn’t have been running it while wearing a hoodie.”

Cole stifles a laugh as he sits beside him. “I thought that.” He admits. “I was just-” He goes silent as Kai takes off the hoodie, leaving him in a baggy black tank top.

The brunet fights back a smirk. “I’m so hot from all that training, I might just have to take this off too.”

“You’re just teasing me now, aren’t you.” It’s not a question, and Kai allows himself to snicker at Cole’s expression- he’s clearly trying to look somewhat annoyed, but it’s obvious that he’s not really.

The ex-criminal pulls on the hem of his borrowed shirt. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.” He shrugs. 

“Why me though?” Cole complains. His eyes are still focused on Kai’s body rather than his face, and the brunet stifles a giggle.

“Haven’t gotten the chance to do it to the others.” He explains. “And besides, Zane seems like he’s hard to get all worked up.”

Cole frowns. “He can be.” He agrees. “But it’s easier to do in public, he’s got a professional persona that comes crumbling down around his ears.” He then pauses a moment before adding, “Don’t do that too much though, he’s terrifying when he’s angry.”

Kai nods. “Noted.” He pauses a few moments before speaking again. “I really wish that there was something we could do to help find Lloyd. Just waiting is driving me crazy.”

Cole sighs. “You and me both. I don’t like feeling useless. There’s got to be  **_something_ ** we can do.”

There’s a short pause while Kai thinks about the words.  **_Is_ ** there anything they can do?

Jay steps into the room. “I have good news and bad news. I’d ask which one you want to hear first, but it doesn’t make sense if I say it out of order.”

Cole quickly nods. “Okay, what do you have?”

“The good news is that we found out where they’re keeping Lloyd! And, uh, the bad news is that it’s gonna take a miracle to get close to him, even with the plan.”

“Where are they keeping him?” Kai questions.

“Uh, well… have you ever heard of a place called the Fire Temple? It’s in the Forest of Tranquility, and-“

Kai stares at him, dumbfounded. “They set up a base inside of an active volcano?!”

Beside him, Cole makes a sputtering noise. “How is that even possible?!”

Jay shrugs. “I’m just telling you what the Falcon found out. I have no idea how they pulled something like that off.”

Kai takes a deep breath. Okay. That- okay. They just need to figure out how to get inside a base that’s heavily guarded and inside of a **_fucking_** **_volcano_**. 

Ha. Jay wasn’t kidding when he said it’d take a miracle. 

“But on the bright side, we found a shortcut for the plan. We might be able to finish in just a few days.” The ginger smiles.

Cole nods. “Anything else we can do until then?”

Jay shakes his head. “I don’t think so.” He admits. “We’re going to need-”

Zane runs into the room. His footsteps are unsteady again, and he looks considerably worse, all the healing he had been doing going right down the drain.

“We have been compromised. I found evidence of hacking into our systems- hacking good enough that there is only one person I know skilled enough to pull it off.” The intelligence gatherer huffs out, clearly winded. “It must have been Cryptor.”

Jay’s eyes go wide, but it’s Cole who starts to speak. “Wha-”

“We do not have time to finish the plan, we will have to use what we have already prepared and pray that we will be able to pull this off.” Zane directs his attention to Kai. “This is short notice, but-”

Kai gets to his feet, cursing himself for running that exhausting training course. “Get me in close with a gun and singal me when the plan’s put in action. I’ll be ready.”

Zane nods. “We do not have much time. Cole, show him to the weaponry. We will need to leave as soon as possible.” And with that, he heads off, most likely back to the workshop.

There’s a brief pause as everyone processes what just happened. Then Cole gets to his feet and gestures to Kai to follow him, jogging through the base.

The ex-criminal follows the field agent until they reach a medium sized room covered from floor to ceiling with different kinds of weapons. Without waiting for instruction, Kai immediately begins looking through them. 

He’s not going to be able to use anything big or flashy- this is a stealth mission. So he grabs a few pistols and silencers, as well as a few different kinds of knives. He straps as many weapons that he’ll be able to carry without restricting his movement, then turns to Cole and gives him a nod.

The field agent nods in return, and then turns around, leading Kai through the base once more. 

This is going to be one hell of a mission… 


	25. Gunshot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have absolutely nothing to say for myself

Kai cautiously picks his way through the woods, being careful to avoid being seen. Pixal had dropped him off a little ways away from the volcano in order to let him keep the advantage of stealth.

He’s already exhausted, and he only just got here! Doing that training course was a big mistake, but how was he supposed to know that he’d be going on a mission so soon?

Doing his best to stay quiet, he sneaks around, carefully creeping closer to the volcano. There’s dozens of guards around, and Kai idly wonders how many of them have circumstances like he did, only without the chance to escape.

He forces the thoughts out of his head. No, he can’t think about that. He can dwell on things like that later, for now he needs to rescue Lloyd. Get in, get Lloyd, get out. That’s all he has to do. He can’t let anything get in his way. 

Once he’s just outside the volcano, he pauses. Zane should kick things off any minute now, so he just needs to wait and stay out of sight.

Kai spots a formation of birds a little ways away, and he takes a deep breath, waiting for things to start. Given the distance, it should happen in just another minute… 

A smirk crosses his face as the flock on mechanical falcons fly into the volcano. If the shouting and gunshots are anything to go by, it looks like the plan works even with less falcon-drones than they had originally planned.

Getting to his feet, Kai quickly runs over to the entrance of the base. The guards who protected it have abandoned their posts, so he easily slips inside.

And inside, it’s absolute  **_chaos_ ** . 

There’s about fifteen birds in total- though only one of them has all of the functions, the others are still capable of flying around and destroying things. Not to mention the bullets that fly around aimed at them- they only cause more chaos.

Kai stifles a laugh- he doesn’t have time for that. With a quick shake of his head, he tries to recall the blueprints Zane had shown him. Where are they keeping Lloyd?

He darts off, trying to ignore the sweltering heat. The deeper in he goes, the hotter it gets. Which makes sense, considering that it’s an active volcano.

What is the plan if the thing erupts? Seems like a waste of effort to put so much work into a place that’ll just explode.

Sighing, he continues his way further in, doing his best to be stealthy. And while the outer areas had been distracted by the falcons, the guys deeper in are still focused on their jobs.

Creeping around a corner, he suddenly comes face-to-face with one of the guards.

The guy moves to shoot him, but Kai is faster and gets him in the shoulder. While he’s recovering from the impact, he runs over and hits them as hard as he can in the face. The man crumples, out cold.

But even with the silencer, the gunshot was still loud. He curses internally before picking up the pace, running as quietly as he can.

A left, a right, shoot that guy in the leg and knock him out, down a long hallway, and… fuck, does he go left or right here?

He hesitates for a few moments. A… left? Is that it? 

Footsteps sound down the halls, and he curses. Looks like he’s going left.

It seems to take an eternity- running down sweltering halls with sore muscles and enemies he has to fight isn’t exactly very fun. But he stays focused on his mission. He needs to save Lloyd. 

He slows down as he reaches a smaller hallway. Is this it?

Hand still firmly on the gun, he carefully makes his way down the hall. There’s only one door, and it looks heavily fortified.

Kai goes up to the door. There’s no window, so it’s impossible to see inside, but there is a keypad beside it, and it's in the location Zane said it would be.

Trying to ignore his doubts, and hoping against hope that he’s not wrong about something, he types in the code Zane gave him.

The light flashes green. 

The door clicks.

Sucking in a deep breath, Kai grips the door handle. Quietly, he eases it open and peers inside, ready to slam it shut at the first sign of danger.

Lloyd is propped up against the far wall, bound to it by thick, heavy chains. He’s not wearing a shirt, his jeans are torn and tattered, and there’s a tight gag in his mouth. He’s covered head-to-toe in horrible injuries- burns, cuts, bruises, with inflamed patches of skin and a deathly complexion.

All and all, he looks like  **_shit_ ** .

He looks up when the door opens, but the fear in his eyes doesn’t fade when he sees that it’s Kai. Rapidly, he shakes his head, straining against his bonds.

He doesn’t think Kai would hurt him, right? He knows that the brunet had switched sides.

Kai steps inside the room. “Lloyd, it’s okay, I’m here to rescue you.” He assures quietly.

Lloyd stops struggling, but the panic doesn’t fade. He shakes his head again, his eyes pleading.

The former criminal steps inside, lowering his gun in further proof that he doesn’t mean any harm. 

This only seems to freak him out more, and Kai takes another step inside. Why would he-

All too late, he figures out what was going on.

A goon was standing behind the door, and Lloyd was trying to  **_warn him_ ** -

That’s the last thought he has before a gunshot rings out, a thudding pain in his head, and then-

And then, nothing.


	26. Come To Terms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [hides behind this chapter so you guys don’t murder me] I have absolutely no defense for whatever the fuck I just wrote just take it

Kai wakes up to a ringing in his ears and a throbbing headache. Groggily, he blinks, looking around. His shoulder feels numb, and-

**_Nope_ ** , not numb,  **_excruciating pain_ ** -

A whimper escapes him and he tries to move to relieve some of the pressure, but his arms can’t move all that well- and it takes him a moment to realize that they’re chained. The chains have a little slack, but not all that much.

He must’ve gotten shot in the shoulder and hit in the head, just like he did to the guards on the way in. 

“You’re awake.” A familiar voice speaks up from beside him, obviously relieved, but trying hard to hide it. “Good, I was starting to think you were dead.”

Kai looks over to see Lloyd, who’s tied up the same way he is. “Not dead.” He confirms weakly.

The blond forces a smile. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a lock pick? Or maybe a hair pin?”

Kai shakes his head, trying to remember what he has in his pockets. He doesn’t have his weapons, but maybe they didn’t take everything away...

“No, sorry.” The ex-criminal sighs, knowing that he doesn’t keep either thing on him. “I’ve got a pen?”

Lloyd had looked defeated at the first part, but perks up at the second. “What kind?”

“I’m not sure, actually. What kinds are there?” Kai frowns. The chains barely have any slack, and the pen is on the left side- the side that has the bullet wound in his shoulder. But what is Lloyd planning?

“Most pens are ballpoint or fountain, but hopefully it’s the first. Can you reach it?” Lloyd prompts hopefully. 

As Kai’s about to respond, the door opens, and an all-too familiar face walks in. 

“Morro.” Lloyd snarls, eyes narrowed. “What do you want this time? To gloat? You’ve done that more than enough.”

The criminal mastermind just smirks. “Still some bite in you, huh? Would’ve thought two days without basic necessities would’ve softened you some.”

Kai clenches his teeth. C’mon, they need Morro to leave so that they can go back to whatever plan Lloyd had!

Morro turns his attention to Kai. “Long time no see.” He comments. “How’s being a traitor working out for you?”

Lloyd scoffs. “So speaks the man who ditched the CIA when he couldn’t lead the Ninja task force.”

A tense atmosphere overtakes the room. Kai quickly realizes he needs to do something before Lloyd gets hurt even more than he already has.

“Are you actually here to do something, or do you just want to throw insults and pretend that you’re better than us?” The former criminal snarks.

Morro’s cold glare almost makes him flinch- it’s only from his years of experience working underground that he doesn’t.

“I hold all the cards here.” He reminds. “Don’t test me.”

Kai smirks. “Testing, testing, one two three-“

Morro kicks him in the stomach, making him slam more against the wall, and- yep, that hurts. A lot. 

Hopefully he doesn’t have internal bleeding- they really don’t have time for that.

He curses loudly at the pain, but at Morro’s smug expression, he wishes he could take it back. He doesn’t want this bastard to get any satisfaction from him.

“Is that the best you can do?” He wheezes, staring the criminal dead in the eyes. “I would’ve thought that the legendary Morro would’ve been able to hit harder than a two year old.”

Morro glares daggers at him, but then pauses, sucking in a deep breath. “I’m not here to talk.”

“Good, because listening to your whiny voice is starting to give me a headache.” Lloyd snarks.

The mastermind doesn’t reply, keeping his focus on the ex-criminal in front of him. “Pythor wants to speak with you.”

Kai tenses up, but then curses a little as that makes his shoulder sting. But the pain doesn’t dull his fear in the slightest. Pythor wants to speak with him?! 

He’s so fucked.

A few armed guards enter the room and start to unchain him, and Lloyd strains against his bonds, though he must know that he won’t be able to break out.

Wait. That’s it!

Lloyd wanted the pen, he must be able to do something with it! And given that the previous statement was about lockpicks, if he has the pen, he might be able to escape!

But how to get it to him without making it obvious… 

Well, he’s got an idea, but it’s going to hurt. A lot.

Taking a deep breath, Kai waits until he’s hoisted to his feet. And once he is, he kicks a guard’s feet out from under them, dropping to the ground in order to do so. 

The confusion gives him just enough time to snag the pen from his pocket and sneakily give it to Lloyd- and he even has the chance to punch another guard in the crotch.

The third guard kicks him in the shoulder with the bullet wound, and Kai tries- and fails- to muffle his scream.

He’s dragged to his feet again, but he doesn’t bother trying to cause another ruckus- he’s achieved his goal, and in all honesty, he’s just trying not to sob. It hurts, it hurts  **_so much_ ** -

Tears burn his eyes, and he’s not able to focus on where he’s being taken because one of the guards is holding his shoulder and it hurts, it’s throbbing and it’s started to bleed again and it just hurts and did he really do this to Cole? Twice?! How did the field agent handle it?

As the grip on the wound tightens, he comes to the conclusion that either the way he’s being treated is making it way worse, or Cole is a serious badass.

He’s dragged for what feels like an eternity, but it’s probably only fifteen minutes or so. Eventually, he’s brought into a room with a table that has chairs on each side- and the farther seat has restraints on it.

Although he really wants to struggle, he’s in so much pain he can barely think- not to mention how exhausted he feels.

Doing the training course was a horrible mistake.

He’s strapped into the chair, but all he can do is try and keep his sobs to a minimum- they’re  **_purposefully_ ** being rough with the bullet wound.

He watches through a haze as the guards leave, only one staying in the room with him.

A few minutes later, a familiar man with purple hair walks into the room. Seriously, why does he have purple hair? Just-  **_why_ ** ?

“Kai… its been a while.” Pythor drawls, sitting across from him.

The former criminal nods, cursing himself for the fact that he has tears on his face from the pain. He really shouldn’t be looking weak right now.

“I have to say, I never suspected that you were a traitor… it was quite the act you put on. And I suppose that Cole is still alive as well.”

“Maybe so.” Kai tries to sound nonchalant, but the crime lord can probably see through him with ease.

“Mhmm. And how exactly did they convince you to change sides? A promise of your sister’s safety, perhaps?” Pythor speaks so casually, as though they’re talking about something as unimportant as the weather.

Kai feels himself tense up, and he does his best to hide both it and the way he reacts to the pain of the wound. “Maybe they did. What’s it to you?”

He really shouldn’t be snarky with this guy, but since when does he actually use his common sense? 

“Ah, but the Ninja aren't as good at hiding as they think they are. I have people on the way to Borg Tower as we speak.” 

Kai does his best to hide his panic. “Borg Tower? Is that where you think we are?”

“It’s where I  **_know_ ** you are.” Pythor’s menacing smile sends chills down his spine. “It's only a matter of time before my men get inside and defeat the Ninja, once and for all. And as for your sister, well… we can’t have anyone getting in the way, now can we?”

“So are you just here to gloat about a victory that hasn’t even happened yet, or do you actually have something important to say?” Kai spits out, trying to calm his racing heart. No, they can’t get Nya, they can’t get his boyfriends, he needs to find some way to protect them, he can’t let them get hurt!

Pythor arches an eyebrow. “And here I thought I might give you the mercy of a swift death.”

Kai feels unease start to settle through him. “As opposed to what?”

“You did quite some damage to Chen’s industry- I heard you freed almost fifty of his workers.” Pythor begins.

“And by workers you mean human trafficking victims? Yeah, I did.” Kai scoffs, staring the crime lord dead in the eyes. “I don’t regret it.” 

“Oh, maybe not yet. But you will.”

Trying to resist the fear that’s started to creep through him, he puts on a calm and slightly amused facade. “Is that so?”

“I’m afraid you don’t quite have a grasp on your situation. Chen hasn’t taken kindly to the damage you’ve done.”

“Mmm, and why do I care about that?” Kai arches an eyebrow, ignoring his racing heart. 

“I suppose you don’t have to… you won’t be in his hands for a few hours yet.” The crime lord says nonchalantly.

“Sorry?” Kai returns, feeling a bead of sweat start to form. What does he mean by that?

Pythor’s smile only adds to his unease. “You still have value, you know. But not in the same way you did before.”

“You’re planning on giving me to Chen.” Kai realizes, dread starting to pool in his stomach. 

“I’m quite curious about what he plans to do with you. But I suppose that’s none of my business.” Pythor stands up. “Goodbye, Kai Smith. I’m afraid this will be our last meeting.”

And with that, he walks out, followed by the guard, leaving Kai alone in the room, still strapped to the chair.

If he wasn’t strapped to the chair so securely, he’d be trembling. No. No, this won’t be how he goes out. He won’t let his death be without meaning. He can’t just be killed like this, his life taken because he just wanted to do good for once, to be the hero instead of the villain.

Well… at least he got to help. He saved lives rather than take them. That sure as hell doesn’t make up for all the pain he’s caused, but… 

He had gotten to try and make things right. And in the end, that’s why he’s going out like this. Because he finally stood up for what he believes in.

Kai closes his eyes and waits for the guards to take him away, mumbling a quiet goodbye to the people who loved him.

When they do come and drag him away, he doesn’t resist.

He’s come to terms with his death.


	27. The Author Is Basically An 8th Grade Boy Despite Not Being Male Or In Middle School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look I don’t know what you were expecting from me I like to make Kai suffer

Kai doesn’t cry as much when they roughly jerk his bullet wound around. It still hurts a shit-ton, but he’s accepted his circumstances and somehow, that seems to help him cope.

He’s dragged past the room he had been in before, and a smile forms on his face when he sees that the cap of the pen he had given Lloyd is laying just outside the door- a subtle signal to him that he had escaped.

Good. The two of them might not have gotten along very well, but Lloyd didn’t deserve to be hurt like that. And if he does escape, he’ll be able to help the others avoid whatever Pythor and Morro have planned.

He’s dragged around for quite a while- the grip on his wound causing unspeakable amounts of pain- and is eventually led to the outside, where he spends all of three seconds before being shoved into and chained up in the back of a truck. And surprise, surprise- it’s a Chen’s Noodles truck. 

Kai starts to try and start up a conversation, but when he opens his mouth, he’s immediately gagged.

The main thoughts occupying his mind as they drive are how much it’s going to hurt. Likely a lot, but he can hope that it’ll be quick, can’t he? A bullet to the back of the head sounds pretty peaceful.

But deep down he knows that his death will be anything but that. Chen is going to want to make an example out of him, and that calls for a **_lot_ ** of pain.

Leaning back against the wall, he tries to ignore the bubbling feeling of dread. He’s accepted that he’s going to die, but the pain is a whole other matter. It’s going to hurt more than anything he’s ever experienced, and he’s not sure what to do with that. The bullet wound alone pushed him past his limit, how is he going to handle whatever Chen has planned for him?

It takes what he thinks is around half an hour to reach Chen’s factory, and when the doors to the truck open, Kai decides that he’s going to be as difficult as possible. 

So he goes limp when they try to bring him in, refusing to walk no matter how many times he’s ordered to or his bullet wound is hit. Nope. He might be crying, but there’s no way he’s going to give them the satisfaction of bossing him around.

Getting dragged on the floor hurts, but the frustration he gets from the guards makes it more than worth it.

He’s chained up too well to actually escape, but he causes trouble anyway- he kicks one guy in the ankle as hard as he can, and then immediately throws his weight in the opposite direction- which makes everyone guarding him stumble.

He then proceeds to fart as loudly as he can, and while he can’t control how badly it smells, he’s lucky enough that it’s horrid.

“ **_What the_ **-?!”

Kai proceeds to go completely limp so that they have to get really close to him in order to actually move him around the base.

He’s petty like that.

There’s quiet grumbling from the guards, and he’s clearly made them uncomfortable, but other than that, nothing changes.

So he waits a few moments before tensing every muscle in his body, causing sudden tension that throws them off. Then he goes limp again, and **_then_ ** he starts screaming profanities at the top of his lungs.

And luckily enough, the gag isn’t strong enough to muffle them well, so they can hear all of the colorful insults he’s dishing out.

Eventually, one of the guards grows tired of him and hits him in the head hard enough that everything dims.

Before his world goes dark, Kai has enough time to feel smug about his skill at being annoying.

* * *

His eyes slowly open, and Kai groans when he realizes that he’s back in the cell from before.

Hopefully they don’t plan to starve him again, because that was **_awful_ **.

After a few moments of consideration, he decides to just lay there on the floor and pretend to still be unconscious- hell, maybe he’ll go back to sleep. He really doesn’t want to get thrown back in that god-forsaken tournament.

He’s not entirely sure if he drifted off again or what, but eventually something startles him enough that he flinches, rapidly looking to the source of the noise.

Something hit the metal bars outside of his cell. 

With a frown, Kai gets up, heading over to investigate. 

A quiet curse escapes him as he realizes that it was a guard’s weapon that hit it, most likely an accident.

Kai quickly tries to go back to laying on the floor before they notice that he’s awake, but he’s not fast enough.

There’s words spoken that he can’t quite make out, and then footsteps are heading away from the door.

Well shit.

Not long later, a group of guards shows up and drags him away, and despite his best efforts, he’s not able to annoy them into knocking him out or doing something to prevent him from having to feel whatever he’s going to have to suffer through.

He’s taken to a new room, and even with his struggling, they still manage to strap him into a laid back chair.

Nervously eyeing the obvious instruments of torture, Kai swallows, biting back a series of insults. Looks like he’s not going to get that easy death he was hoping for… 

When the guards leave- thankfully taking the gag off before they do- Clouse enters the room, wearing that smug and slightly annoyed expression he always seems to have.

Kai glares at him, doing his best to hide his fear with annoyance. “Oh, you again. Has no one killed you for that mustache yet? Something that hideous should really be illegal.”

Clouse doesn’t seem bothered by his insult, instead walking closer, the door closing behind him with an ominous click.

Swallowing nervously, Kai watches as the other gives him a sinister smile. 

“It’s time that we finally put you in your place.” He drawls in that annoying voice of his.

Kai opens his mouth in the beginning of an insult, but his words are turned into a startled grunt as he’s slapped across the face.

“Do not speak unless spoken to.” Clouse demands. “My next reminder will not be so nice.”

Biting his lip, Kai decides to just go along with this for now. He already knows that it’s going to hurt, and he really doesn’t want to make things worse for himself.

Clouse picks up his first weapon- a sledge hammer. Really? That’s what he’s going with? It’s probably not even going to hurt that-

Kai’s scream rings out loudly as he feels the hammer collide with his fingers, agony emitting from the wound. He can’t think, he can’t talk, he can barely even breathe from the pain that comes.

And then Clouse brings the hammer down onto his hand again.

And again.

And **_again_ **.

He can see his own fractured bones sticking up through his torn skin, blood leaking all over and dripping onto the floor, the coppery smell making him feel sick, but it’s all Kai can do to gasp in air from the way he’s sobbing.

By the time he sets the hammer down, Kai feels like he’s on the edge of blacking out, pain wracking through him. 

That- that has to be the end, right? He- he can’t keep going, are there even any bones left intact in his hand?!

He can barely see through his tears, but he flinches when he sees Clouse pick up what he thinks is a dagger.

The cold blade cuts through his shirt and deep into his skin, he can feel the muscle below tearing and the warm blood beginning to drip down his chest.

He wants to close his eyes, he wants to stop watching, but he can’t tear his gaze away from the crimson liquid that gushes down him as it’s released in the wake of the cold steel blade. He watches, transfixed, by his own bloody injuries.

Nausea sweeps over him, and he feels remarkably dizzy, but he doesn’t black out. The wounds are starting to feel numb, and he can finally start to catch his breath a little. 

That lasts for only a few minutes before the adrenaline wears off and the pain comes back, even worse than before.

Screaming sobs escape him, tears falling down his face as the thick crimson liquid stains his clothes and skin. When Clouse finally pulls the blade back, Kai can barely register that he’s done so, too wrapped up in his agony.

He’s released from the chair, but he can’t move, he can barely even think! 

He doesn’t have the strength to resist as the guards return and drag him out of the room- all he can do is sob as his injured body is roughly manhandled.

They throw some medical supplies in with him when he’s put back in his cell, but he can’t even use them right, he’s hardly able to move- not to mention how torn up his left hand is.

He does manage to get his shirt off and start to wrap up the bloody gashes- but not before he sees the design the slashes had made.

It’s the snake symbol of Chen’s cult.

This time when he cries, the tears aren’t just from the pain.

  
  



	28. This Isn’t Ideal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look what I finished!
> 
> [throws it far away as a diversion so you guys go after it instead of me]

He finally fell asleep after hours of being kept up from the pain, and when he wakes, he’s surprised to find that his injuries have been better taken care of than what he had done.

Huh.

There’s also some food, which he quickly eats, unsure if he’s going to get more any time soon- Chen has proven that he can and will starve him.

It hurts to twitch his hand, to move in the slightest- hell, even  **_breathing_ ** hurts! So he stays as still as possible, leaning up against the wall and closing his eyes.

He’s not sure how long he lays there, trying to blot out the pain, but it’s not nearly as long as he would’ve liked. Footsteps sound down the hall outside his cell, and he quietly curses as he realizes that whatever’s coming is going to hurt.

And just like he’s expecting, he’s dragged out of his cell and back to the room. 

Day after day, that’s what happens. He’s taken from his cell, hurt in unimaginable ways, thrown back in with a meager amount of healing supplies, wakes up patched up a little more than he had fallen asleep with, given a little food and water, then the whole cycle repeats.

Every day when he’s taken away, he finds himself praying that it will be the day that they just put him out of his misery. He’s not sure how long it’s been, but his hand is still horribly mangled, his shoulder still throbs from time to time, and- god, don’t even get him started on all the other shit that’s been done to him. There’s not a single inch of his body that doesn’t throb and ache, whether it be from bloody injuries or just blunt force damage. 

He finds that he’s given up completely, barely even caring what’s done to him anymore. His life is driven by the pain that’s inflicted on him, and he can hardly even register anything other than it.

But there was one day that he remembers as the worst. He’d rather have every bone in his body broken by the sledgehammer than go through it again.

Stuck under a basin of water unable to breath until he’s raised from it would be bad enough for most people. But unfortunately for Kai, he’s always had a severe fear of drowning.

That day was the day that he thought of begging. Thought of pleading for them to just kill him, to just get it over with. He couldn’t breathe, and all he could feel was the cold liquid surrounding him, preventing him from being able to do anything but suffer.

Thankfully, Clouse hadn’t done that again- though that was most likely because he had to have someone perform CPR after he was under for a bit too long.

Kai shudders at the memory.

But today as he’s dragged out of his cell, he finds that they take him in a different direction than the room. 

It seems like an important detail, but he can’t focus on it very much, other than feeling a small spark of hope that maybe today it’ll end. That it’ll all be over. That he won’t feel like this anymore, he won’t feel  **_anything_ ** anymore.

Still, the hope is slim. It’s more likely that he’s going to be tortured in some other way- maybe something even worse, though what could be worse than waterboarding, he has no clue.

He’s taken into the room that he recognizes from the last time he was here- the weird cultist room where the camera had been.

Wait a minute… there’s still a camera. And he’s being chained up in the same spot that they had put Zane.

Hmm. This isn’t ideal. 

But maybe it does mean that today’s the day he finally gets to leave. The day he gets to leave everything behind and finally stop suffering.

He would really prefer if it wouldn’t be in front of his boyfriends, but it still seems better than the alternative of what he’s been going through.

He glances up at the guard beside him, and he finds a small comfort in the fact that he looks similar to Cole. It’s not quite the same as being able to see one of his loved ones in his last moments, but the similarities do put him more at ease.

Kai closes his eyes as he hears Chen speaking to the camera, blotting out whatever he’s saying. It doesn’t really matter anymore.

He does hear the gun next to him cocking, and he looks up at the guard, giving him a weak smile. “Make it quick, okay?” 

The guard blinks, a pained look forming on his face. 

But Kai finds his attention brought back to Chen, who has a maniacal expression and is still speaking into the camera.

“And now, you can say goodbye to your-“

A bullet is shot through the crime lord’s head, and Kai watches in shock as the man crumples, blood spraying everywhere from the lethal injury.

In less than a second, Kai is grabbed, and he finds that the chains aren’t fully attached, they were just made to appear like they were.

He finds himself stumbling along the guard, and he blinks a few times as the events fully register in his head.

“Cole? Is that- is that really you?” 

The ‘guard’ wipes at his face, and the facial ‘tattoos’ he had had come off with ease.

His boyfriend gives him a pained smile. “Let’s get you out of here.”

Without time for a response, the field agent picks him up and slings him over his shoulder.

Huh. So that’s how that feels.

Kai can barely notice anything that’s going on around him, all of his attention commanded by the way his injuries are being aggravated. But after a minute, something clicks.

“You just killed someone.”

Cole doesn’t respond, though whether it’s because he’s concentrating on escaping or because he just doesn’t want to answer is unclear.

“You killed someone.” Kai repeats, his mind reeling as the image of the crime lord’s bloody brains being sprayed across the room replays in his head.

“Now is not a good time for this conversation!” Cole argues, gunshots still going off around them.

… yeah, he’s got a point.

So Kai keeps his mouth shut until they make it outside, his kind still trying to figure out what he should be thinking.

The field agent gets the both of them in the back of a car, and it takes off in an instant.

Kai looks down at the bloody mess that he is before looking up at Cole, blinking a few times. The reality of the situation taking its time to sink in.

“I’m not gonna die?” It really shouldn’t sound so much like a question, but there it is. He looks over at Cole, still trying to process the rapid events that had just occurred.

His boyfriend gives him a pained smile, wincing as he takes in his injuries. “You’re not gonna die.” He promises.

They end up taking five buses, three taxis, and the subway to get away. Cole has to carry him between modes of transportation, and even that aggravates his injuries.

But finally, after getting out of a bus that went out of the city and walking almost three miles, they stop outside of a metal slab on the ground- hang on, judging by the keypad and hinges on it, this is some kind of underground bunker!

He watches as Cole types in a passcode and opens the hatch, still with Kai slung over his shoulder as he walks down a set of stairs, locking the hatch behind him.

They make it down, and Kai tries to squirm out of his boyfriend’s grasp. “I can walk now.”

“No, you can’t. Have you  **_seen_ ** your injuries? You need some bed rest.” Cole scoffs, carrying him through the base.

Kai sighs, but he decides not to argue. It’s not like he’s not enjoying seeing how strong Cole is and how easily he can carry him around.

He’s taken to a room with medical things and gently set down on a bed, Cole quickly looking over his injuries. “I’ll go get someone who actually knows what they’re doing, okay? You just wait here.”

Kai nods in agreement, and the field agent heads out of the room, leaving him alone.

Snuggling into the warm blankets, Kai feels a soft sigh escape him. He should probably try to keep his eyes open, but he’s tired. Really, really tired.

Just closing them for a minute wouldn’t hurt, right?

He hears footsteps coming from back down the halls, but he’s already so comfy, and the bed is so soft, and he’s safe, he doesn’t have to worry anymore-

He closes his eyes, giving into the warm feeling, willfully letting his world fade to black.

It’s nice to be back with his friends.

* * *

Kai wakes up slowly, and he’s surprised to find that he’s hardly in any pain. What happened? Where is he?

Then everything clicks, and he smiles, sitting up. Cole had rescued him! He-

Kai feels his eyes fly wide as he recognizes the person standing in the doorway of the room he had been put in.

Lloyd has a serious look on his face, and he looks Kai dead in the eyes as he speaks.

“We need to talk.”


	29. Closure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short but sweet (:

Kai swallows, staring at the mastermind. He’d run away, but he’s really not in good enough condition to even get up from the bed, much less do any kind of activity. 

“Do we have to?” He tries, clutching the blanket with his good hand as though it’ll shield him from whatever the blond has planned.

“Yeah. We do.” The blond comes closer, and Kai scooches back as much as he can, back against the headboard.

“Really?” He gives a weak smile.

“Kai-“

“Are you sure I can’t just suffer in peace?”

Lloyd’s expression starts to flicker over to annoyed, and Kai realizes that it might be in his best interests to shut up.

The mastermind sits next to him on the bed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

A few moments pass in silence.

Then he speaks up. “Why?” He asks, eyes opening as he looks down at his feet.

The brunet blinks a few times, trying to figure out what he means. “What?” 

“Why did you do it?” Even though he’s not looking at Kai, it’s easy to see that his expression is a mixture of frustration and pain.

Oh. 

He wants to talk about his father.

Kai shifts uncomfortably, unsure of how to go about this. If he says anything wrong, this whole thing will go downhill faster than he could blink.

He breathes a low breath, trying to calm himself as his mind races with the thoughts of all of the people he killed. “I wish I hadn’t.” He admits.

“That’s not what I asked.”

Kai swallows, feeling himself start to tremble. When he closes his eyes, he can still see their faces. No matter how hard he’s tried to blot out the memories, they never really went away.

“You’re not evil, Kai. I know that now. So there had to have been a reason.” Lloyd looks up at him, and Kai blinks in surprise when he sees his eyes, red from crying. “What was the reason?”

Selfishness. That was the reason. Kai had decided that his and Nya’s lives were worth more than the dozens he had killed. 

But if he had found some other way, if he had managed to avoid becoming a criminal, then maybe those lives wouldn’t have been lost. Maybe those people would still be going about their day to day lives. 

But they’re not.

**_And it’s all Kai’s fault._ **

There’s a pause before he speaks up, before he’s able to figure out how to explain. “You’re wrong.” 

He ignores the confused expression that forms on Lloyd’s tear-stained face in favor of continuing. “There wasn’t a good reason. I- I should’ve found another way. He and  **_dozens_ ** of other people died, and- and-” Kai cuts himself off, silently cursing himself for the tears that have started to form in his eyes. “-and it was my fault.”

Lloyd stares at him for a few moments, and Kai takes the opportunity to wipe at his tears with his good hand, waiting for the mastermind’s response.

The blond looks away, back to the floor. “It was for Nya, wasn’t it.” His tone makes it clear that it’s not a question, but a fact.

Kai doesn’t bother questioning how he knows that. “I should’ve found another way.” He repeats, glancing down at his bandaged bloody hand. It’s almost ironic, really- the blood on his hands is literal, almost symbolic for the lives that had been lost to him.

If only there were painkillers for emotions.

“You tried though, didn’t you? You never wanted to hurt him.” The blond seems to have calmed some, less tense than he had been previously.

“I never wanted to hurt anyone.” Kai confirms.

Lloyd hesitates a moment before he looks back at him. His voice wavers ever so slightly as he speaks. “Thank you.”

Kai stares at him, taking a second to fully process his words. “For- for what?”

“For letting me get closure.” The mastermind gets up from the bed and starts walking towards the exit.

“Closure? How- how is this closure?” Okay, he must’ve missed something here. Is he planning on killing him? That's the only thing he can think of here that would mean closure.

“Because.” Lloyd pauses in the doorway, glancing back to look at him with a small, pained smile.

“He wouldn’t want me to be angry.”

There’s a few moments pause as the ex-criminal processes that, trying to piece together the encounter. But Lloyd doesn’t wait for him to catch up.

“I’ll see you later, Kai.”

And then he steps out into the hall, the door clicking shut behind him.

Kai settles back into the bed, his mind still racing with unanswered questions. But in the end, most of them don’t really matter.

“Closure, huh?” He curls up under the blankets, still pondering the words. 

Lloyd, at least, has come to terms with Kai’s mistakes.

And maybe in future, he can too.


	30. Time To Start Healing Physically

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this took forever. I have no defense. There’s some fluff though so don’t kill me okay?

Kai wakes up to Jay’s face, the ginger inches away from him.

“Are you okay?! Well obviously not, you got tortured, but- I mean, you’re alive. That’s good enough for now, I guess. But still! Don’t you  **_ever_ ** do that again!” He wraps Kai in a tight hug, and the ex-criminal cries out as his grip tightens around his injuries.

Jay immediately pulls back, panic on his face. “Did I-  **_shit_ ** , did I hurt you?! I didn’t mean-“

“I- I’m okay.” Kai gets out through gritted teeth, ignoring the searing pain. Hmm. Looks like the painkillers wore off.

Zane rushes into the room, dragging Jay away from him. “He just woke up, give him a minute.” He instructs. 

Kai sits up the rest of the way, wincing at the flash of pain that goes through him.

Then his hand starts to ache. It’s subtle, at first, and Kai looks down at it, noting the new bandages. Someone must’ve put them on after Lloyd left.

Then it starts throbbing, rapidly getting worse and worse as he blinks off the rest of his sleep, the more he wakes the more it  **_hurts_ ** -

“ **_Fuck-_ ** “ He curses, squeezing his eyes shut. Yep, definitely hurting now. A lot. Looks like he got used to the painkillers and doesn’t know what to do now that they wore off.

“Kai, are you okay?” Zane wears a concerned expression, stepping closer.

“I’ll live.” He gets out, gritting his teeth. “Don’t want to get hooked on these painkillers, so I can power through.”

Zane gives a hesitant nod. “It would be better to not give you any more.” He admits. “Perhaps you should go back to sleep.”

In any other situation, Kai might’ve gotten annoyed. He just woke up and he’s in a lot of pain, and he wants him to just  **_go back to sleep_ ** ?

But he can’t bring himself to feel upset. Instead, he smiles- even though he’s in a lot of pain, after everything he’s been through, he’s just happy to see them again.

He gives a weak nod and focuses on his breathing, trying to calm himself down. This hurts like hell, but at least he’s got Jay and Zane with him.

That is, until Zane starts to leave, pulling Jay out with him.

“Wait!” Kai feels his eyes widen as he reaches out with his good arm as though he could somehow grab them from the other side of the room. “Don’t leave. I…”

“I don’t want to be alone again.” 

Jay is suddenly beside him, being cautious not to hurt him as he pulls him into a hug. It hurts anyway, but Kai likes being hugged too much to say anything about it.

Zane comes over on his other side and is careful to avoid his bad arm as he helps Kai lay back down. “We’ll stay.” He promises. “But you really should sleep.”

There’s a nod from his other boyfriend as he pulls back from the hug. “You should listen to Zane. Sometimes he’s right about these things.”

“Sometimes?” Zane arches an eyebrow, a smug smile forming on his face.

Jay smirks. “I said what I said.” He mocks, putting a hand on his hip to emphasize his snarky tone.

A low chuckle escapes him, and Kai lays the rest of the way back. “I better not be alone when I wake up.” He warns. “I’m expecting lots of love from my boyfriends.”

The blond shakes his head in amusement while Jay rushes over to the chair next to him. “I’ll be here,” he assures, “and I’m going to love you until you start loving yourself enough to stop almost dying.” He sounds somewhat annoyed towards the end of his sentence.

Kai laughs again. “So when I start loving myself is when you stop loving me? Doesn’t sound like a fair trade.” He teases.

An eye roll is his response. “You know what I mean. And aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

Much to his dismay, that’s exactly when Kai finds himself yawning.

“Go to sleep.” Zane instructs, walking over to sit on his other side. “I promise you’ll get affection when you wake.”

Kai sighs, but nods his agreement as he closes his eyes. Despite still being in pain, he’s actually pretty comfortable.

Just as he’s slipping into unconsciousness, he feels Jay’s hand in his own.

There’s a smile on his face as he falls into the land of dreams.

* * *

Groggily, Kai blinks himself awake, and he takes a moment to remember where he is and what happened.

He looks around the dark room to see that Jay is holding his hand while scrolling on his phone and Zane is using a small flashlight to read a book.

After a moment of consideration, he squeezes Jay’s hand, letting him know that he’s awake.

The ginger fumbles with his phone, almost dropping it as he switches his attention to Kai. A smile on his face, he speaks up. “How’d you sleep?” He prompts.

This gets Zane’s attention, and he puts his book down to look at the brunet. 

“You were right here.” Kai points out. “Pretty sure you know.” 

Jay rolls his eyes as Zane gets up to turn on the light. “He has a point.” The blond smiles as he flicks the switch, bathing the room in light.

Kai squints as he adjusts to it, but he finds himself smiling at Jay’s pout. “You guys are mean to me.” He half-heartedly complains, clearly not actually meaning it.

“Do you think you’re doing well enough to stand?” Zane ignores the ginger in favor of talking to Kai. “You will likely need physical therapy, but just seeing if you are capable of being on your feet is a good first step.”

Smile fading at the idea of having to retrain himself to move, Kai nods and pretends he’s not upset about how Jay stops holding his hand.

After sitting up, Kai carefully adjusts until he has his feet on the floor. “Let’s give it a try.” He decides. 

Zane is ever so cautious as he helps Kai to his feet, allowing the brunet to use him as support. 

Once again ignoring the pain of his injuries- it seems as though Zane had given him a low strength painkiller to avoid using the opioids again- he slowly takes on more and more of his own weight.

It hurts, but he manages it, and Zane takes the smallest step away to confirm it. 

“Good,” the blond smiles, “but you should still get some bed rest for a while.”

Groaning, Kai sits down. “For how long?” He questions, ignoring the way his arm aches from moving around.

Zane hesitates. “A few days, at the minimum.”

A scoff escapes him. “We don’t have time for that!” He protests. “We have to stop Pythor!”

Jay shakes his head. “Yeah, like we’re going to let you run off again.” He crosses his arms, glaring at the brunet. “You’re gonna stay here until you’re healed. And even when you are, there’s no way you’re going after them.”

Kai finds himself sputtering. “I- you- I need to help!” He protests. “You guys can’t sideline me like that!”

“Cole’s healed from his bullet wound. He can take it from here.” Zane’s tone brooks no room for argument.

At the name of his noiret boyfriend, Kai finds himself flashing back to when he was rescued and what Cole had done to get him out of there.

He had shot Chen straight through the head.

“I want to talk to him.” Kai decides. He’s not sure how well the other would be handling the effects of what he had done, and he wants to make sure he’s okay.

Jay and Zane exchange a glance. “He’s, uh… well… he’s kinda…”

That tells Kai all he needs to know. “Refusing to talk to anyone?” He prompts. That’s what he had done after his first. He hadn’t been able to look Nya in the eyes for over a month.

Jay looks surprised, but Zane nods. “He won’t leave his room.” He confirms. 

Kai takes a moment to consider what he should do. “Tell him that I want to talk to him about it.” He decides.

There’s a frown from his ginger boyfriend. “About what?” He asks.

“Just take the message for me, okay? And make sure he knows I’m not upset.” 

His boyfriends seem to have a silent conversation just by looking at each other. After hesitating a few beats, Zane nods.

“We’ll tell him. But it’s likely that he won’t want to talk.” He warns.

Kai gives a grim smile. “He’ll talk to me.” He doesn’t doubt it for a moment. Cole will want to talk to someone who understands- Kai had wanted the same thing, but he didn’t get that chance.

If he’s lucky, maybe he can stop Cole from going down the same path he did. The regret and guilt that builds… he doesn’t deserve that.

Exchanging another glance, Zane and Jay head out, promising to tell the noiret his message.

Once they leave, Kai lays back down in the bed, waiting for him to show up.

The only real issue is what he should say when he does.


End file.
